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Will digital content replace newspapers one day? A question that has at least entered the minds of many people these days. Will there be no need for physical textbooks, newspapers, that intense thriller novel because we can curl up to a nice laptop and a cup of virtual coffee? A recent report has been issued by VSS Forecast stating..
Internet advertising is expected to become the largest ad segment in 2011, surpassing newspapers.
This statement seems to suggests that since the largest ad spots will be offered online that newspapers will no longer be funded as they once were. With a reduction is ad sales I would imagine that newspapers will one day struggle to stay alive. Notice ‘one day’ is in bold letters. ‘One day’ a lot of things can happen.
In my personal opinion it will be a long time before it will feel natural for the majority of population to be comfortable with ‘curling up to a nice ebook’. There is just something about print that can’t not be reinvented by the virtual world.
One the other hand we are raising a new generation of Internet users. Children are often times much more Internet savvy than their parents and this has most to do with the fact that at age two they have master the mouse by playing their Blues Clues computer games (my daughter is one of those children). So I suppose it is possible that this shift from a hard copy world to an all virtual world could happen sooner than some of us would like. I guess I better get used to the idea of grabbing my cup of coffee, cozy blanket and my laptop for a before bedtime ebook. Or maybe I will become one of those die hard ‘book’ readers that everyone else laughs at because I haven’t stepped into the new century 
.
Another point you may not have thought of is if newspapers cease to exist what will we line the bottom of our birdcages with, potty train our puppies on and wrap our glasses in with when we move. You can see that the need for newspaper goes way beyond the need to read a hard copy print .
I agree it may happen “one day”, already newspapers (which used to be a gold mine) are becoming less profitable. However, until easy-to-read portable electronic reader devices are cheap and ubiquitous, the newspaper will still be around.
This would necessitate a huge leap forward in electronic book display technology and battery life. Still, while laying on the beach, I’d much rather read a paperback than stare at a screen.
Sam, I would think it would also be difficult to clean the sand out of your laptop