So after 25 years of subscribing to a paper edition of the New York Times and a habit of walking outside to pick up my copy first thing in the morning, I cancelled my susbscription a few days ago. The person on the phone asked me why I was cancelling and I said it was because I preferred to read it online.
"What if we cut the cost of your subscription in half for the next six months?" she asked.
I felt as if someone had punched me in the stomach. They are this desperate, I thought? But I said, No, I want a different experience when I "read" the news. And I want it online.
The first day of my cancellation reminded me of when I quit smoking 30 years ago. What will I do? What will identify me as Sylvia Paull? Not going downstairs to pick up my paper felt strange, but after I made breakfast, I finished reading an article in the New Yorker instead of reading front page news, which is what I usually do. It was calming, and it was easier to place my magazine in the rack on my dining table than fuss with the Times, whose pages were always difficult to handle.
Then I went to my computer and opened two screens: one for my email, the other for the news. I could answer email and while waiting for emails to open or be returned, I read the news.
The entire experience -- and it's just been three days -- has been irreversible for me, and here's why:
1. I can select what I want to read and not be bothered by articles that are a waste of time but which have drawn me in because I'm too lazy to turn a page of paper.
2. I can read comments to columnists, which open up an entirely new world to me. The comments to an column by David Brooks on reforming the education system the other day were more interesting than Brooks's original comments. I could also quickly add comments if I wanted to do so.
3. I can watch video. This morning I watched our President tell jokes at the National Press Association dinner. He's a marvelous joke-teller, with pitch perfect timing and a poker face. This is something that is not conveyed merely by print.
4. I can follow links, dig into the paper's archives, do dictionary searches, and connect with the knowledge base that is on the Internet.
5. The print onscreen is much easier to read than the print on paper. Colors are more vibrant, and there's a plethora of photos to follow online so I can get a more complete visual story than what's been selected for print.
6. News is news. I get news when it happens, not a day later.
7. Oh. It's free. But frankly, I wouldn't mind paying.
Which all goes to show that people's habits can change when technology improves our experience. Where will the journalists go? Online, where the rest of us are going.