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Helsinki Edition
October 1998
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Printing machines will never stop
The development of the media is a fact we can see all around. There are many changes in the ways of expressing ideas and information. Most newspapers are available on the internet via web sites, so you don't have to buy it and you can read your favourite newspaper even if you do not want to leave your room or you are abroad. Despite these advantages very few people do that. Why is it so?
The reasons quite varied, and are not easily explained by either rational or emotional means. It isn't so easy to read long articles on a computer screen because you miss the typical design of newspaper pages. It takes a longer to find a section you want to read and you have to finish your reading if you switch off your computer. You loose one of greatest newspaper advantages: you can start to read at home and continue in tram. That is a rational reason.
However, I consider it much more important that people who use the internet still buy and read "paper" newspapers. Why is this so? Well, it's a question of emotions. You don't want just to get information. You want to get also a feeling you are reading and taking a rest. Especially if you are abroad, you keep it even if it is old and you read articles which can no longer offer you any actual facts. If you have read all the articles (once more "all articles") you can give it to somebody else, and you can be sure it will be appreciated as a welcome gift.
Strictly seen by the rational eye it is just a piece of paper, but we are not walking brains. We are human beings. That is why we like newspapers, and that is why printing machines will never stop.
Of course never say never but maybe this is one of the exceptions to that rule.
Daniel Domanovsky |
