I've been on vacation for the past couple of weeks with sometimes inconsistent or non-existent internet connections. I've been on a lot of airplanes too and along the way I've re-discovered the joys of reading print.
When I'm home I spend most of my day in front of the computer and therefore I get most of my news in digital fashion, but I've re-learned (or reconnected with at least) that print has a whole different dynamic.
When I read on line, I find that don't read very carefully. Instead I tend to scan to try to get the gist of an article. With a magazine, newspaper or book in my hand and lots of time, I read much more carefully. It could be mostly the latter factor is the most important--having more time--but I found I really enjoyed holding a print publication in my hands and I read much more deliberately and got so much more out of it.
Whether it was the International Herald or the incredibly well-written and carefully researched Economist, I learned more about the world this month on vacation than I learned from scanning headlines and quickly perusing articles all year.
I was a bit shocked when I picked up a very thin copy Newsweek at my hotel in Paris. Both my wife and I thought it was some sort of supplemental issue for hotels until we discovered it was the actual issue. It brought home clearly just how poorly some print publications are doing. Yet as thin as it was, the content inside was interesting, rich in detail and well researched.
As someone who writes about the changing face of publishing in my Media Redux column in EContent, I understood this acutely of course, but for some reason it has been driven home to me this vacation. Along the way, I have rediscovered the joy of holding a publication, turning pages and careful reading and I find I liked it and missed it more than I ever would have thought.
Photo by PedroSimeos7 on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.
