But thats beside the point....or is it? I reckon it could soon be R.I.P. or Pieces for our dear old friend the Magazine. Just my theory, its probably not so. And why do i feel this way about a good friend of mine? Well.....paper is so 20th century (unless you live in a 3rd world country, sorry :[ ). Over the past couple of months i've been seeing countless headlines about the big boy in the e-book industry, The Kindle 2. Being the successor to the original Kindle, also a best seller, these could mean the end for paperback and hardbacks. But more about that further down. For now lets concentrate on a more main stream assasin to the beloved magazine.....The Internet.
If you live in a third world country (sorry again) then you probably don't use the internet that much. As for me, i can't live without it. I have broadband at home, a 3G modem i carry with me on trips out of town, and then my cellphone package has 3G too for when i'm nowhere near my laptop. It's become a way of life, and i feel it might replace our old friend the magazine. Why exactly?
Firstly, with a magazine, you get your monthly, weekly or bi-weekly issues. What this means is that you pretty much have to wait between 7 and 30 days to see what's new and newsy in the world. Nice. But not in my case however. I've become accustomed to getting hourly feeds of whats new. And instead of paying whatever one pays for the latest issue of their favourite mag, i get it for free. Let's take for example my favourite blog, CrunchGear. The guys at Crunch are forever posting articles on new things they find and any reviews they've done. That means as soon as its posted, i get a little ícon flashin in my web browser that notifies me about any new articles. With RSS and Atom feeds, the world of online news has become a whole different ballgame.
The downside to this is that you can't exactly take your laptop everywhere. This is debatable though, with the introduction of mini-laptops (netbook is a term i don't think we're allowed to use anymore, and i'm behind Psion on this) and internet enabled mobile devices, i.e. iPhone, iPod Touch, etc. Right now it might seem a little bit odd to just pull out a mini laptop anywhere and get online, but its a growing trend as mini-notebooks are already selling faster than laptops. Again the downside here is battery life. A magazine can be whipped out at any occasion and read, a notebook would depend on how much battery you have left and if you have any network, be it Wi-Fi or 3G. Each has its pro's and con's. But i'm pretty sure the only places we're going to see magazines anymore is 3rd world countries (i'm really really sorry for picking on you guys) and waiting rooms, or at the salon. I mean, its not like you're going to whip out your Kindle or Eee while you're getting your hair done, right?
Now lets look at E-Book readers in general. What makes E-Book readers better than traditional books? For a start, you can store as many books as you like on the internal memory, which is probably the biggest selling point. Instead of carrying a suitcase full of books, you just need one E-Book reader the size of a traditional book. Ok maybe its a little bit bigger. But compare one oversized device to 10 thick paperbacks and you get the point right? Not only does it serve as an e-book reader, but it plays mp3's too! So you can listen to some classical music while you site by the fire with your Kindle (actually, could this be where they got the name? Ha). Or maybe surf the internet while you're there, check your mail, go to the amazon store and download one or two more bestsellers, do some research, whatever you want. Heck, why read even. As far as i know, one of the controversial features of the Kindle 2 was the text-to-speach converter.....which pissed off publishers because E-Books and Audiobooks are two different things sold separately. It's since been killed off.
The drawback of this technology however, is that E-Ink (Electronic ink) is only one colour for now. So as far as magazines go, this is a no no....unless you don't mind looki....nevermind. But for newspapers and such, well, then we might be onto something. If i remember correctly, NewYork Times is already selling e-book readers and subscriptions. This would result in a cut down on production costs as they wouldn't need to use as much paper as before, everything will be done electronically.
I reckon it's only a matter of time before we see more and more people using MID's (Mobile Internet Devices) willy nilly on the streets. I'm actually enjoying reading the latest headlines on the way to work and on long journeys with the train. The end is nigh ;)
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