Read A Paper Lately?

When was the last time you held a newspaper in your hands? I mean, held it to…read? I’m not talking about using a paper to blot us some spill in your garage, or to train the puppy, or to keep that spray paint from getting all over the place.

I’m guessing you haven’t really read a newspaper in the past two or three months. If so, you’re not alone. By most – if not all – measures – the U.S. newspaper business is dying. Except for a few major players, newspapers are bleeding money and ink all over.

The contrarian in this doomsday scenario is, most notably, The Wall Street Journal – which, by the way, has the very best newspaper app for Apple’s iPad (I wonder if the WSJ owner, media savvy Robert Murdoch, has any Apple stock?).  I’ll predict here that the WSJ will succeed, long-term, as an entity. They’ve leveraged their content all over the place, and even have the audacity to (gasp) charge customers to read their columnists and features.

Most of the print industry, though, will probably go under or just fade away slowly to irrelevance…IF it doesn’t take its cues from Mr. Murdoch and go digital.

Sample data points from a recent study the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show the dire circumstances of the American newspaper business, especially when compared to other countries:

• Fewer than half of all adults in the United States regularly read newspapers in 2008, compared with 96 percent in Iceland.
• Advertising contributed 87 percent of newspapers’ revenues in the United States, compared with 53 percent in Germany, 50 percent in Britain and 35 percent in Japan.

In light of such stats, I wondered how much longer the industry can survive here in the U.S.

Some industry veterans are decidely pessimistic about the viability of newspapers. Here’s a site for laid off journalists to offer their “parting words” of wisdom about the biz. There’s even a website where you can donate to…

• advance the search for a support system for the kind of serious public interest reporting that our democracy requires, and that is now so threatened.

Wow.

These thoughts were prompted by some news reports, and also by my need to renew my subscription to…The Wall Street Journal. Yeah, the print edition. I am one of the few people I know of who still read a newspaper – an actual PAPER – every day.  Started this daily routine when I was about ten years-old. Not quite ready to stop reading a paper.

Are you?

Where Will Tablets (And Pads) Take Us?

I remember the Newton, Apple’s infamous first attempt at a ultra-portable, hand-held computing. It was not altogether a bad idea, although it wasn’t integrated or compelling enough to win over a large base of users. Alas, Newton is now (and frankly, has been for a long time) a relic.

What might have been Newton’s domain, the medical world, has now been populated by tablet computers running various Microsoft operating systems. My own physician uses a Fujitsu )?) tablet to track my physical data-points, and can update things easily with a few touches of the stylus. Not elegant, but good enough. If only Apple had seen this niche and gone for it with some seriousness. Oh well.

More recently, netbooks have made advances in business and personal use, although I know only a handful of folks who use their handful of netbook to…check email and look at the web as they travel. I don’t know of anyone who raves about their netbook. Nobody who likes it half as much as their laptop. In fact, netbooks seem tethered, if you will, to laptops. Min-laptops. Cute little laptops. Cheap laptops. But not a serious computer, or a replacement for laptop, or for that matter, a replacement for even a smart phone. Caught in the in-between world, that’s where netbooks seem to be in life.

And smartphones are..well, phones that do more. I love my iPhone. I have friends who love their Blackberries. And some industry pundits (here, here and here, for instance) are suggesting that Palm is going to die, if it isn’t already in its final gasps. Still, my middle-aged eyes need reading glasses to see my contacts and email. Sorry, but the screen on that thing is just a tad too small for my taste. Not that I want it any bigger. No, I like putting it into my pocket, and I like its interface, and I like its apps, and so much more about my smartphone. But that’s a phone, not a replacement for a standard computer.

Which leads us to…the possible future of computing, that new category that many want to establish, but which will likely be won (at least initially) by the Apple iPad. (BTW, I hate the name, but I love the concept). What will the iPad do that makes for something really new, and as Steve Jobs suggests, “magical?” Why, just about anything and everything! Surf, watch videos, read books, and eventually, make calls via Skype using that built-in camera (oh wait, that’s not until next year’s iPad). For a more reasoned assessment of what it’ll do, read this perspective to see where iPad – and some other bold offerings like Google’s Chrome – will take computing in the coming years. Eventually, suggests author Steven Levy, the desktop computer I’m using to type this post, and the GUI with which you are reading it, will be gone. “Dead, deceased, it has gone to meet its maker,” as John Cleese might say.

And, by the way, no offense to Microsoft, but many think they’ll remain stuck to the cash-generating Windows model of computing until the very end. Maybe, maybe not. But it is difficult to envision a future with Windows 10, don’t you think?

So, where will tablets lead us? Hard to say. But it surely seems to be a promising future. Fun, even. That is, if these things deliver even half of what Genie Steve promises.

So far, Levy’s argument for the death of GUI seems credible and yet…maybe I’m not ready to give up that laptop. I like its powerful processing and elegant and all-encompassing “all in one portable box” design.

Just in case, though, I’m thinking of getting a pad, er, tablet, sooner rather than later. I’ll admit I’m intrigued. It’ll take a bit of getting used to, and I may pay a price for being an early adopter. Perhaps I’ll find it all pretty shallow, as empty as cotton candy at the county fair. But at least I’ll have a head start on the future.

Boomers Going Mobile

If you want to target your message to baby boomers, consider this:

Baby boomers are on the verge of adopting smartphones and the mobile Internet…But boomers’ mobile Internet adoption rates will be similar to their social media uptake—that is, slow.

While it is expensive, maybe you should order the full report about boomers who are going mobile from eMarketers.

Or, maybe you could guess as to why baby boomers are moving slowly toward smart phones and mobile content consumption. And no, I’m not getting any financial compensation from eMarketers for suggesting you buy their product. Just think they have some timely, helpful research.

Gen Y: Do You Know Them?

I just finished Michael McQueen’s, The New Rules Of Engagement. Its a “guide to understanding and connecting with Generation Y,” as the subtitle indicates, and it offers engaging, informative and fun insights into the kids who will shape tomorrow’s world. The author is himself a member of the Millennials, the 50 million strong generation of 18-29 year olds. They are a different breed, these kids, and you’ll find yourself appreciating the wisdom – and humor – of McQueen as he gently guides older readers into the minds and hearts of Gen Y.

Educators, employers and parents need to know this information. McQueen, who hails from Sydney, Australia, writes and speaks to thousands of young people and knows of what he speaks. Not an overly scholarly treatise, this book is a quick read that will educate and equip you to understand the kids you’re hiring, training and raising – and to tap into their creativity and power.

BTW, my 18 yr-old son heard the author speak, and was feeling rather empowered by the things shared. Seems McQueen nailed the perspectives and motivations of Gen Y pretty well!

Consider getting copy, and know you’ll find the information well worth your investment of time and money.

How Media Consumption Is Changing

With the introduction of the iPad, Apple is signaling a new phase in how the media world will work. There are certainly things about the new device that lack “wow” power, but there’s something going on here that signals where Apple is going, and why we should pay attention. Consumers, not manufacturing companies, are driving the media revolution, and this is yet another technology that will affect our media buying and consumption habits.

It is obvious that Sony’s eReader, Amazon’s Kindle, and now the B&N Nook all have their merits. They make it easy to carry a lot of books and to read multiple titles any time a person wants. They all have an ability to download various books, at various prices and in various formats.

To date, though, none of them does other media very well. You can’t listen to radio, surf the web or watch video on their E-Ink gray scale screens, nor would you want to. This is where the iPad will instantly make itself more appealing to many people. One device that does…one thing? Not gonna survive. These days, how many people have a cell phone that just makes calls? Or who has an MP3 player that just plays songs? So, by limiting their functionality to books, a dying medium (I hate typing that, but its a fact that fewer people are reading – and buying books, so let’s just live with it, okay?), the current offering of “readers” will find itself looking for an audience while mainstream culture goes with the flashy, color-screened, multi-functional iPad.

Read a book? Sure, anyone can carry around a small tablet-sized screen on which to read – all these devices can do that. That’s easy.

Carry around a business book AND a “guilty pleasure” fiction, too? Yep, the “readers” can do that.

Read the local “newspaper” while I listen to some classical music I downloaded? No, can’t do that on the “readers.” They do text really well, but not much else.

Interrupt my reading so I can check e-Bay for that item I was bidding on? No, sorry, the “readers” can’t do that. You’ll need to have a better tablet for online use – these things are for…reading.

Finish that video I started online last night before I begin studying my textbook for that upcoming quiz? Don’t think Sony can help me do that with their “reader” (despite the fact that Sony makes some gorgeous televisions these days).

Take a break from my book to in order a photo book of pictures from my trip – so it is waiting for me when I return from this trip? Um, I’ll need something more than a “reader.”

I’ll admit that these are all nice, hypothetical examples of how the “reader” will want to be replaced by something more. They don’t necessarily describe your life and how you operate – yet.

By making the iPad a multi-media device, Apple has tapped into where many of us are at – living in a fast-paced, media-saturated world. Apple is correctly seeing that if you  do one thing really well, you’ll likely be obsolete very soon (this is why the iPhone is so popular. It does many things well. Not everything perfectly, but it has enough of the capabilities that I want, and delivers them well, so that I’m finding it hard to imagine life without such a smart “phone.”).

The truth is, we want more more more from our technology, and we want to do do do things anytime, all the time. Apple may have made a big mistake here, that is possible. My guess, though, is that in a few years the iPad, and its various permutations and the inevitable competitors, will change how we do books – and every other media, too.

Radio: A Strong Buy

Radio is strong.

I’m not just saying that because I’m biased.

According to recent research,

• Broadcast radio reaches over 79% of all U.S. adults daily, who listen on average for over two hours daily.

And it isn’t just for an “older generation:”

• Even among younger adults (18-34 years old), radio reached more than 79% of the population –  with an average listening time of more than one and a half hours each day.

When I’ve run advertising campaigns, I’ve always included radio in the mix. There’s no reason to change, either. Smart money goes into smart radio buys. Use radio well, and it delivers exceptional results!

More encouraging data about radio here (see the report titled, “How U.S. Adults Use Radio and Other Forms of Audio from the Council for Research Excellence Video Consumer Mapping Study”).

Can Newspapers Be Saved?

Over at the Tribune, former radio genius Randy Michaels has a new role, taking the helm as CEO from Sam Zell. Michaels has demonstrated he knows how to run a huge radio company, but it remains to be seen just how he can take the Tribune Company, which is trying to come out of bankruptcy – a rather embarrassing decline for the “World’s Greatest Newspaper.” How will the company make enough to fund the staff-intensive and printing/distribution infrastructure that has been newspapers?

And, related, the largest newspaper publisher in Europe suggests that there should be a payment system for news that we find on the Internet – so that link you follow from Google to a news piece could cost you. Monetizing the news departments of major daily newspapers might save them. If – and it is a BIG “IF” – folks like you and me will pay for that which has to this point been free.

And then I think about Chris Anderson, who argues that “Free is better.” In fact, he pushes for a free-for-all web, where free makes sense – even economic sense. I’m not sure that applies to newspapers, though.  Can Michaels turn around the Tribune with a free model? I rather doubt it. Will you pay for news that someone, somewhere, will offer for nothing? I don’t think so.

I’m not sure newspapers are going to make it. That’s a big deal to me. I’ve been reading papers on a daily basis since I was 10. Confession: I started reading…the Tribune. Every day I’d read it, after my Dad finished, of course. Now I get the Wall Street Journal, and consume as much as possible every day. Sometimes my kids read an article or two. But now the Journal is starting to charge for its web content. And I’m not paying for that, not while it is delivered to my door every day.

Can newspapers be saved? I hope so.

Who’s Going Mobile? You May Be Surprised!

The fastest-growing age group of mobile web users? Surprise – it isn’t teens!

According to Media Post, the Nielsen Company has recently released research findings that show an increase in audience of 34% to 56.9 million users in July 2009.

Overall, year-over-year growth among the 13-17 and 65+ age groups outpaced the growth of the total mobile Web audience, with a youth increase of 45% and seniors surging upwards 67% in July.

I wonder what is driving this trend, especially the growth in seniors who access the web though a mobile device. Is it the popularity and low cost “Net Book?” Or easier-to-use smartphones?  Or…what? Regardless, it is clear you cannot ascribe online and mobile use of the web as only “a young person’s game.” The shift to the web is rapid and touches everyone. How are putting YOUR message out there?

Twitter Growth

First came news of an infusion of $100 Million. Then statistics that show Twitter is still growing at a very fast clip.

A recent report by eMarketer.com says at least 18 million adults access Twitter on any given platform monthly. That’s a 200% increase over 2008 estimates! Additionally, eMarketer projects that Twitter users will total 26 million by next year.

Of course, not every user is a frequent user. Previous studies show that many people try Twitter once or twice – and then give up. Still, interest in the service is growing, and a financial model is being refined, so expect Twitter to stick around for some time to come.

Meanwhile, how are YOU using Twitter to promote your brand, spread your message, cultivate your tribe (er, flock?)?

Does Facebook Help Or Hurt?

I’ll admit to being somewhat fascinated by the social media craze. I am not afraid to jump into the water and try new things out, and I’ve become rather conversant about blogging, Facebook, texting and Twitter. I think I’m pretty balanced when it comes to these technological tools, not addicted to them, nor ignorant of their power.

In all things moderation? I try. And yet the line is fine, and at times I wonder if these new ways to communicate are helping – or hurting – relationships. I especially think about this when I see my teens wanting to spend hours online…fortunately, they want to have “face time” with their friends even more.

Here’s one perspective about social media and relationships. It is worth reading, in which the writer suggests that Facebook, among other things, is ruining friendships. And here’s a more positive view, that social media creates community, something for both parents and business people to consider. Finally, a quick read for those who are overwhelmed by all this quick communication.