My dad bought an iPad so that studying on-the-go would be easier for him. (Yes, he’s still pursuing academics while pushing 60). While taking public transport, I’m seeing more and more people on trains and buses staring intently at their iPads. Heck, even Jetstar has jumped on the bandwagon, offering the iPad as in-flight entertainment.
Yet, I still know many people who prefer flipping tangible pages and value the freedom of being able to make notes or highlight key points on a physical textbook. Newspapers and magazines are still subscribed to.
Personally, I feel that print will never be absolutely phased out by tablets and other mobile devices simply because there will always be people who prefer to hold a book, or a newspaper, or a magazine; and there will always be people who prefer something they can carry around without worrying about its battery life.
Moreover, there’s also a percentage of the population who aren’t as tech-savvy that would definitely prefer to stick to the traditional means of content consumption. I’m guessing people like me would also prefer different means of consuming different types of content – I wouldn’t mind reading my news off an electronic device where I can get objective views free of advertisements and coming in in real-time. As much as I’m happy to let my Twitter and Facebook friends play an editorial role and feed me with filtered articles and news updates, I also enjoy flipping through a lifestyle magazine purchased off the rack that someone else has taken the effort to compile topics, arrange them in a visually-friendly layout and even looking at aesthetically pleasing advertisements that come with it.
That said, the following infographic by Brian Young from Sketchee provides some good statistics that offer figures to beef up both ends of the debate:
Some interesting points to note:
- A surprisingly large percentage of U.S. citizens still read magazines – over 90%. Though e-subscriptions are on the rise, studies also show that those interested in reading a magazine on a digital device still want a printed copy. (2010/11 Magazine Handbook from Magazine Publishers of America)
- Almost 60% of U.S. consumers plan to purchase a tablet in the next 3 years. This would mean that the demand for digital content would increase, and apps like Flipboard would allow them to personalize content. As a marketer, this means you would have to work extra hard in getting them to choose your content over the sleu of others available. Do this by making it intriguing, unique, and offering incentives for them both to read your content and to share it.
- The future seems bleak for the newspaper industry which offers a vastly different world of content and meets a different set of needs. Advertising spend is going down, circulation numbers are of a record low, people in the industry are expected to lose jobs and newspapers are also starting to lose their credibility. Statistics are certainly declining and aren’t in favor of the industry – but does this mean that consumption will migrate over to less traditional mediums? As mentioned, I have my reasons to doubt so, but I’d like to hear other views on this.
- Book sales aren’t decreasing, but e-book sales see a comparatively phenomenal growth of 204% – I would largely attribute this to the emergence of more e-book readers and tablets available on the market. It seems too early to use these figures to conclude that it’s a preference of choice.
To conclude, I actually, very frankly, have no conclusion. I’m stumped – I don’t even have a particular inclination towards any side of the argument. What say you? Would print be a rarity in the long run? Would the future be filled with technophiles reading e-books from their e-readers? Or does print have a place in society that technology can never oust?
