Actually, I am surprised. Not that apps ‘could’ hurt print sales, but that they have, as Murdoch asserts. There are only 8 million iPads sold so far and more than a billion daily newspaper readers. So, I would like to see some numbers from News Corp before believing it.

Thinking back just a few years ago when you couldn’t do a Google search to find out where this one quote you saw came from or to find more information about a particular topic (I still remember microfiche, ugh).

But then I also think about the number of trees that need to be cut down to print a best seller (not a lot of post-recycled books out there) and how many of those books won’t end up on a library shelf but will end up in a landfill (or if we’re lucky a recycle bin). Just drives me nuts.

Electronics aren’t “cleaner” but you can use one for several years and cut out a huge amount of paper and other byproducts.

Going back to newspapers, the other problem there is the business model. It’s based on a model that isn’t 100% inline with the Internet. Granted, people are starting to get used to paid content (look at GigaOm Pro) but there’s still a lot of free content out there. I guess unless the newspapers and other news sources either collude or combine into a network/union that essentially gives people no choice but to pay for full access, gating content that way will never really work for them. They could try the “pro” thing but they have to have something compelling enough to drive enough people to pay extra for that. Then again, WSJ seems to be doing fine with their subscription model (though I haven’t seen their financials so…).

It will take a few generations to fully flush out the desire for printed papers, its like books, books offer so much more to a digital version. Its ok, if its a business paper or some other factual piece but you can’t beat picking up a book, with nothing to distract you and flicking the page over, the feel and even smell of a book is priceless. I hope print books never disappear.

If everything is digitised, it will be interesting to learn what will happen if there is a sudden loss of data through a natural event that wipes it out.

It makes a lot of sense…like Danny mentioned…with just about everyone under 60 owning a cell phone and a large number of of people between 20 and 40 owning smartphones of some kind (depending on the demographic of course), it just makes sense. Before you’d have to have a laptop and a cell card if you were sitting on a bus or a train.

The final nail in the coffin will be when some provider is able to dole out $20 smartphones with 3/4G access for under $30/mo. At that point, even those without a lot of income can climb on board and ditch all those chopped down trees…

By the way, you know that newspaper when compressed in the middle of a landfill will not decompose like people used to think? There was some article I read about people finding a newspaper from the 1950s in a landfill still readable and not at all that delicate to the touch. Of course, when the grids start to sputter out, we’re screwed. :)