Will reading from ink on paper bring the same odd glances that those who still type (if any) on a typewriter now receive?

There is something mystical about the experience of settling in with a newspaper. A park bench, a library couch, a kitchen table is transformed into a sacred place when holding the golden pages of stories. There is a thrill to seeing the rolled up print on the doorstep or a flat version on a bookstore shelf. My fear is that my sacred simple pleasure of reading a newspaper in print will be replaced by digital devices. Is this nightmare keeping you up at night too?

I cannot bond with a cold device delivering downloaded words on a screen; not to mention the loss of the religious ritual associated with the printed page. But it looks like I may have to mourn this pleasure sometime in the future even though it may be with screaming and hair pulling (my own hair that is since I am a pacifist).

Posted Fri Aug 7, 2009 10:49 am AEST by News Online’s Sarah Collerton Peter Cox of Cox Media is quoted:

“Mr. Cox says online offers a commercial advantage over newspapers because it does not carry printing and distribution costs.

And he believes it will only be more bad news for the industry as sales of newspapers - and magazines - continue to plummet.”

So for all of us print and paper news fans, we better have a hanky ready.

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