For many years, and counting, we have continued to rely on newspapers and other forms of print media relentlessly for the sake of being updated on the daily happenings, going on around us. And for the most part of those years, they have served as the main source of our news; until the digital age came to be known. And since then, the main topic of concern has always been that of whether printing and print media will die out at some point, as the years go by.
Mind you, this remains a topic of such controversy, so much that no one can give a definite answer to that question. It’s a guessing game; a game that even experts today are still playing to the best of their ability. However, regardless of that, I think it’s a wise thing to acknowledge that technology changes. And in the exact same way the mailing services were overtaken by the telegraph, someday, printers might end up being a thing of the past. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s dial back just a little, and let’s take a look at how things have progressed over the years.
When printers and print media were all we had
As you all know, way earlier in the years, roughly around the 1600s, newspapers had their roots in deep, and were the only source of news we knew about. This success thrived and continued on until e-books emerged.
At that very moment in time, the prospect of reading on computer screens was a notion that only many people ridiculed a lot; but after some time, this notion changed as a result of the introduction of the various devices that supported e-books. And by then, a paradigm shift started, where e-books were becoming more popular than what the ink and toner printers offered us on a daily basis.
The status quo
Ever since the beginning of the 20th century the use of e-books has seen a steady incline, with a good portion of the population relying on them more than printed books. Concurrently, this has made the books, newspapers and other forms of print media, face a decline in the major following the print media has always had. Then, by the year 2015, the rate at which people bought e-books started to decline, which meant that people were still stuck in the old ways of reading. Since then, the purchase of e-books has been fairly constant, and the status quo has been lenient for both sides of the coin. So, what does all this mean?
As it has already been stated, the answer to whether printers and print media will die out, is merely anyone’s guess; there is no saying with certainty that after 10 years, printing will be a thing of the past. As of now, print media, like books, still, have an aesthetic value that we aren’t ready to give up yet. On top of that, reading a printed book or newspaper is by far, more beneficial than reading the same content on a screen.
However, one thing that makes e-books and digital media more favorable than print media, is a matter of convenience; it’s certainly easier to access digital content faster than print media.
By the fact itself, someday, maybe a couple of decades from now, print media will be a thing of the past. And if you combine this with the obvious benefits animated e-books have upon the young minds of the children of today, it only makes this realization all the more probable. It’s only a matter of time.
