The purpose of a newspaper is to sell ads and promote various corporate/business agendas. Most of the rest is just bait to draw in eyes for advertisers and the shaping of public opinion. All the points about convenience, durability and usability are true, but incidental.
I read several newspapers daily because they are a good way to serendipitously browse things I don't normally encounter and learn such esoteric lore as matinee times, obituaries and grocery bargains. Some papers (such as the New York Times) cater to a more "literate" prey-base, while others (such as the Daily News) are more downscale. This is part of the mystique they create for demographic purposes, to draw the right kind of focused clientele for their advertisers and corporate masters.
If newspapers focus on what they do best (box scores and occasional fluff, columns such as columns, local news and portable ads) they shall always have a future. As society fragments, though, they shall find it harder and harder to regain the status they had when railroads and telegraphs were the cutting-edge of exchange.
Slashdot Mirror
The purpose of a newspaper is to sell ads and promote various corporate/business agendas. Most of the rest is just bait to draw in eyes for advertisers and the shaping of public opinion. All the points about convenience, durability and usability are true, but incidental.
I read several newspapers daily because they are a good way to serendipitously browse things I don't normally encounter and learn such esoteric lore as matinee times, obituaries and grocery bargains. Some papers (such as the New York Times) cater to a more "literate" prey-base, while others (such as the Daily News) are more downscale. This is part of the mystique they create for demographic purposes, to draw the right kind of focused clientele for their advertisers and corporate masters.
If newspapers focus on what they do best (box scores and occasional fluff, columns such as columns, local news and portable ads) they shall always have a future. As society fragments, though, they shall find it harder and harder to regain the status they had when railroads and telegraphs were the cutting-edge of exchange.