Fear and Loathing in the bins

Okay, so newspapers will change. Maybe we'll figure out how to do what we talked about doing 20 years ago: craft in-home delivery without someone throwing a bundle containing the other 90% we don't want on our front lawn. Consumers have made it clear: we want what we want, when we want it and only what we want and not a bunch of other stuff we don't want. Get it? And if you persist in refusing to listen to us, we'll walk away and get what we want how we want it from someone else.

The sale of the Chi Trib has opened the conversation again. What will we do about our newspapers? We can start with accepting that what can be done will have to happen online. I know, I know. Some people like to read a paper that's on paper, like I do with coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other. That's great. But there's just not enough of us and fewer every day. So, just accept that you and I are just as likely to be reading a newspaper in 10? 5? years as we are to ride a horse to work. Yes, some people do ride a horse to work. And therre a little cafes in Kansas that even provide a hitching post for their customers coming in by way of Trigger. But not enough do that to convince Mickie D to do that. Anywhere.

So we (99% without horses) will get our news from a site and read it on our hand-held whatever. The point is not the delivery form, but the content that matters. If all we are about is whether we are on paper or in bytes, we've missed the point. If it is relavant, well-written, concise, and readable, it will be read.