By Ashley Kirkland
As young adults interested in technology, we are always looking forward to the next big thing coming to the market. We wait for products that will provide us with an interactive and immersive experience, such as augmented reality. If you’ve seen the HBO hit, Silicon Valley, we have all had our ideas of what the “future internet” will look like. As far as the future of news, Apple Inc.’s News+ Subscription has us covered with the ability to browse all of our favorite magazines and other publications at our fingertips.
For only $9.99 a month, Apple News+ allows consumers access to more than 300 magazines and articles from The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. These services are inclusive of what Apple already offers in the standard Apple News App. With companies offering bundles with all of our favorite publications, will old-school publications [newspapers, print magazines] (finally, probably, indefinitely even?) meet their end?
According to BBC’s report of the future, “the digital media has democratized the means of production and distribution in news, but not the [end] result.” As we gain more information and share more and more, there seems to be a minute gap between those that skim an article and those that seek the news. Subscription based apps like these will cater to all, by allowing users to gather all their favorite news sources in one place for faster access and usability. Over all else, the news should keep users informed, and this is a handy way of doing so.
It seems like a great deal on the outside - you pay a flat rate for as many publications you can set your eyes on. It’s great if you find yourself buying more than one magazine or newspaper a month. Last year, Apple bought a small company, Texture, and implemented their software to build this appealing product. It has a great user interface, making the experience easy and entertaining, with the mixture of text, photos, videos, infographics, and more. You can check out photos of the app here.
At the end of the day, technology affects our daily lives in every way. As big technology morphs into better connectivity, it will influence the ways we receive news. Today, we expect news to find us rather than us finding it. With higher connectivity, we will be able to share and receive news faster. By utilizing mobile devices, we can consume high quality content at a cheaper price. Apple News+ offers a centralized location for most of our magazine and news needs. Currently, the product is free for a month. I would recommend trying it out and seeing if it could replace your way of receiving news.
Old-school News: Source
Apple’s News+ App: Source
Questions to consider:
1. We have all probably joked about newspapers and magazines “dying out” - is this the future for news?
2. Would you rather receive your news from a subscription app? Why or why not?
Hi Ashley!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your tech talk I thought you made some great points about the way the news is consumed from past to present. However, I believe there are more options than just a subscription based news or paper based. Currently, there are millions of people who have made the switch from paper to digital news consumption. With that being said, many of them (including myself) don't necessarily feel the need to pay a subscription on a per-month basis to consume such news as the regular Apple News app already caters to and suggests news articles I may like to read based upon recent history using their algorithms. Instead of subscriptions, I believe that the new age of digital news could make a lot of use out of banner ads which are also catered to what individuals have searched on their phone. This not only would generate tremendous revenue for companies such as Apple, but would additionally keep many more news consumers around as a subscription based service may turn them off. I would love to hear what you think about this idea!
Hi Ashely!
ReplyDeleteYou brought up a lot of really interesting points in your article. I wasn't aware of Apple News before, but it seems like a very information packed subscription. As an iPhone user myself, I have access to the preliminary iPhone news app that shows articles nation wide. While I try to browse the app more, I usually forget about it and don't check it for weeks at a time. To answer your first question, I do think the paper magazines and newspapers will diminish, the content of news will remain the same. News will just be conveyed more digitally instead of on paper. This will especially come into play as we become more environmentally conscious and work to reduce our paper use.
To answer your second question, I do not think I would ever pay for news. I would definitely receive it from an app, but not one at a cost. My most commonly used from of accessing news right now is actually through NBC New's snapchat stories. I am always on snapchat watching the business stories or chatting with friends. Being on the snapchat app already, makes it easier for me to click on the NBC news app. I also really like the news being conveyed in video form as opposed to in writing. I feel like I retain more information with visuals than just words. Using snapchat to view news also makes it more social. I can send a portion of the news report to a friend, which opens the floor to conversation on the subject.
Hi Ashley! I thought your blog post was very relevant and I am one of those people who joked about newspapers "dying out"! Although I see it happening with the emergence of technology, it does make me a little sad! I do not read physical newspapers but I know that they have been around for a long time and it's hard to think of not having them anymore. I bet people never thought physical newspapers and magazines would be replaced but now that they are, you have to wonder what do we believe is irreplaceable that may be the next thing to go? Although it’s easy to be nostalgic, the prospect of technology and innovation is exciting because we don’t know what is to come! Currently, we think social media is the coolest thing, but maybe that will be replaced in 5 years! To answer your second question, I want to support physical newspapers because of its long history; however, the truth is I get almost all of my news from apps or some digital source. This is mostly because of the convenience! Overall, I found your blog post to be thought provoking and something we should all keep in mind!
ReplyDeleteHi Ashley!
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was a very interesting read and a unique perspective to provide news. The biggest thing that I was thinking of is that having access to so many different news sources in their one app can help people differentiating from bias. I mean this in the fact that someone is not opening their news app like "Cnn" or "Fox News" where they have a strong semblance of everything is true. With this, I believe that people will be more free to read articles from varied news sources. To answer your questions, this is most definitely the future of news over paper as the internet has given people the ability to read news instantly. Due to that, people no longer want to go out and get a newspaper or wait for their news every morning in the form of a newspaper. I would definitely subscribe to this am looking into it right now!
Great post Ashley, definitely think receiving news will come from online sources. ESPN magazine which is the top sports magazine in the world is stopping their print magazine after 21 years and going to start sending the magazines online if you're sub scripted to it. This is due to the high demand of news coming from online sources. I do believe this is the future for the news industry. Looking in the education system you see a similar thing as more education systems are moving towards the use of e-books. Personally, I would rather receive my news from online sources rather than paper as it's better for the environment as well as it's easier to find other articles on the topic that I'm reading about.
ReplyDelete