document.write("

$\"Gravatar\"$ So.....it costs money to print a newspaper? And people actually pay to read something on paper.....And people pay to run advertisements....Man, I have to get out more often $\"\"$
WunderKraut | Homepage | 10.13.05 - 10:38 am | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ I still like going through the Sunday paper until my fingers are all black and then rubbing it under my eyes so I look like a football player.

I'm cool like that.
Ken | Homepage | 10.13.05 - 7:51 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ Newspaper is the only thing between me and frostbite in the cold, cold winter.

So, you know what my feelings are.
Cullen | Homepage | 10.13.05 - 9:24 pm | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ And it's not just newspapers that I'm concerned about. A lot of magazine subscriptions are down.

And maybe this isn't directly related, but a lot of book publishers no longer take unsolicited manuscripts. I was at a website for one publisher yesterday that boasted of over 1000 authors, then in the next sentence they say 'we publish around 70 new titles per year'. Granted, not every author will publish a book every year, but it is getting more difficult for a newcomer to get publishers to take a chance on them. This because of rising costs and the need to make a profit. Used to be a publishing house could count on the big name authors to make up for the losses they would incur from books that might not sell as well. Seems to me that they are becoming more and more unwilling to take a chance on something that is not a sure thing.

But it's always been hard to break into print, so I know this isn't entirely new. Stephen R. Donaldson's best-seller 'Lord Foul's Bane' was rejected I think 46 times. J.K. Rowling also got a lot of rejections for Harry Potter.

But one thing is certain, the internet has definitely hurt newspaper subscriptions. And I do think it has contributed to lower magazine subscriptions. I don't think it will ever eradicate books, as there is a big difference between reading from the screen and holding a book in your hands (I prefer the latter).

What I think might happen is that more and more, we will move toward paying for information via the web. Eventually the web will do what the television did and infiltrate virtually every home. I know it won't happen like this exactly, but one scenario I see is that you enter a website and few pennies are taken from your bank account (which of course is also online and which you just allowed access to by typing in your account number-or maybe your computer is set up to automatically give access when you enter a site-this of course means we've solved the problems of hacking and identity theft). Since there is no paper copy, the content provider has a much lower overhead and these pennies translate into much higher profits than before (if your number of hits is high enough). Of course then the question is, how often do you have to pay. Daily? Weekly? Whatever it is it will be very cheap for the subscriber to encourage traffic.

The only things I don't see that happening with are online stores and blogs. In the first case the profit is made from the sale of the product, and in the second case, you can't really expect someone to pay to read your musings, can you?

Or maybe you can. Maybe bloggers are the Dave Barrys and Lewis Grizzards of the future. Maybe one day Cullen and Wunderkraut and all of their ilk can quit their day jobs and just make a living off of folks like me who have nothing better to do than to look to them for guidance and amusement.
Crotalus | 10.14.05 - 8:23 am | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ I don't think I could depend on this for a living. It's fun to do if you just have to write something down and throw it up there.

If I was working for a news agency and doing online content, I wouldn't mind, but I don't think I could ever do anything indepent.

The problem with the internet is that it was founded around free information. The internet community expects free information. It's why intellectual property companies are fighting the battles they are.

Ther's a balance somewhere. I'm not sure where it is.
Cullen | 10.14.05 - 8:33 am | #

$\"Gravatar\"$ The crossword puzzle has kept me getting the paper. I really seldom ever read the paper except for the Sports. I often think about stopping it all together since I have found the blogs! Yay blogs!
Zsa Zsa | Homepage | 10.18.05 - 10:32 pm | #

Commenting by HaloScan

$\"\"$ ");