In the last decade more and more information sources have been springing up -from professional organizations to people like you and me who spew data in blogs.
The internet has made this easier than ever because you or I don't need a huge printing press or distribution network. We can offer our news for free -which is in everyone's budget. And if your news is good and accurate, you get more viewers or even subscribers.
So what about traditional newspapers? These guys have been printing monthly, weekly, daily, sometimes twice a day, and distributing paper out to paying individuals. It's a tried and true format that kills millions of trees and burns up a lot of gas on a daily basis.
Despite the fact that less and less people are turning to newspapers for information, there are more physical newspapers in the world than you may think.
Check out this map. It's an eye opener.
http://newspapermap.com/#slat=19.062117883514652&slong=-19.486718749999994&zoom=3
Information like this is continually collected and stored in an easy to use free online database called Google Fusion Tables. When you can take a spreadsheet of data like this and throw it on a map and color code it, it's very telling. It communicates easier and it's more accessible. That means faster and better decisions get made.
Data put on maps casts light on all kinds of information that would normally be locked away in your database.
For instance, the colors on the map above indicate languages spoken. Newspapers for different languages are a pretty good indicator of where the languages of earth are spoken. Just glancing at the map can tell you where people are speaking the languages of earth.
How do they keep going? I mean, that's a lot of paper being used daily. And to think, they get read for a couple of minutes and then discarded in a recycle bin -hopefully.
Why do we still cling to paper information systems?
I think it's the tangible aspect of holding the information in our hands.
People like to hold information in front of them rather than look a screens.
Tablets are helping to bridge the gap.
They're glorified sheets of paper that you can view ton's of information on, that's always relevant. And you can hold them.
Prediction: I think when tablets are as thin as a piece of construction paper, they're flexible, foldable, and available in larger (newspaper) sizes, the shift away from paper will increase faster than anyone can imagine.
Hey Thomas Guide or Rand McNally!
I'd love a map of the US I could pull out of my glove compartment, unfold, that's touch sensitive, allowing me to swipe to scroll, pinch to zoom, and tap to set destinations.
Like this:
Virtual Map in Babylon A.D.
Embedded Link
newspaper map | ✰
Newspaper Map | ✰ find and translate all newspapers in the world ✰
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