There it was staring me in the face, right out of my morning paper—a CD-ROM. Not just any CD-ROM (and by the way, when was the last time you heard anyone mention a CD-ROM, 1998?), a CD-ROM containing [insert favorite paper here].
Is this the wave of the future? Instead of the front paper hitting the stoop every morning, a CD comes whizzing through your mail slot. The Dallas Morning News is planning to use this technology soon. Now they don’t plan on putting the actual newspaper on the CD-ROM, but rather supplemental material provided by another company.
From a marketing angle, the idea seems perfect. People won’t just type in any old website, but they will check out that shinny new CD-ROM its fancy glossy sleeve if you give it to them for free. And it’s not a coincidence that it contains links to promotional websites.
I feel like the old traditional journalist, not giving in to the hip new technology, but I don’t think there’s a way to turn back now. It’s just a matter of time before we are all getting all our info Minority Report style, sans the print.
Tracy Wong @ Tue, 02/28/2006 - 1:33pm
The thing about a digital newspaper is, people don't like to scroll - that's why blogs have short entries. And a CD might be glossy, but I'm not sure if many people would bother taking it out of the packaging and running it. I still get AOL trial CDs and they're annoying. Of course, any publicity is good publicity and the art on a shiny CD is more visually appealing than just black ink on white paper.