the
innovative LEDGER
An e-Newsletter from The Innovative Edge™ Inc.
Vol.
7, No. 4 - April 2007
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The
Paperboy's Dilemma
By Jeff Govendo
I
am a newspaper reader.
No,
not one of those fanatical news junkies that devour six different
papers before the morning coffee has dripped through. But I do take
my newspaper reading seriously, and find it hard to carry on without
having given it a good going-over first thing in the morning. And,
like most of my ilk, I like to hold a paper instead of reading the
news online (although I do that too; it’s a good way to stay
up-to-the-minute on breaking stories).
For
years they’ve been talking about newspapers being replaced by
flexible, paper-like readers onto which news stories can be downloaded
over and over. Most of us have dismissed these either because
we didn’t believe in the technology, or that bona fide newspaper
readers would ever give up the feel of real paper in their hands.
But
things are changing. First, there are, sadly, fewer bona fide
newspaper readers out there, as witnessed by steadily declining circulations
nationwide, as well as recent major staff reductions in newsrooms
across the country.
Second…
that faux-paper technology I just mentioned? It’s getting better.
A recent article in the Boston Globe’s business section (yes,
a newspaper article) highlighted the Cambridge-based company E Ink,
whose flexible, low-power “electrophoretic” displays are
finding their way into many consumer products such as cell phones
and book readers. Because they use ambient rather than electrically
powered light from within a device to make characters visible, they
remain operational for many hours without replacing or recharging
batteries. Also, they can be made very thin and flexible. It is
no longer a stretch to imagine their supplanting paper as the material
of choice for those of us who still wish to hold reading material
in our hands.
The
history of civilization is filled with key transition points, when
time-honored, long standing conventions and practices are rather suddenly
threatened and replaced by new technologies. They have been popularly
coined “disruptive technologies” by Clayton Christensen.
Buggies to automobiles, vinyl to CD, typewriting to word processing,
file cabinets to hard drives – these are but a few of the disruptive
transitions we’ve witnessed over the past century.
In
each case there has been resistance – sometimes considerable.
Often, this is explained by the observation, “people just don’t
like change.” Perhaps it warrants a little more examination.
I believe that the reason many people resist change is that they
tend to focus on what they’ll be losing in the transition, rather
than what the new order may bring. If newspapers do go the electronic,
handheld route during my lifetime, I could mourn the loss of that
comfortable, familiar “feel” of paper in hand over morning
coffee. Then again, I could choose to think about being able to instantly
update the news, or save a few trees (actually, quite a few), or reduce
landfills, or whatever else this new technology might offer.
Same
transition, different perspective.
Business
and popular literature is filled with stories of companies that have
disappeared or are in serious trouble for their failure to embrace
change and respond accordingly. Many were well-established, highly
respected firms with long histories of success; often earning it because
they themselves had once ushered in new and innovative technologies.
And, as author Christensen illustrates in his seminal book The
Innovator’s Dilemma, there are powerful forces that make
it tough for companies to embrace new technologies that depart from
the existing order. Yet many have done so, and prospered as a result.
I believe those were the companies whose leaders chose to focus
their energies on new possibilities, rather than defending the status
quo.
So,
to all you newspaper readers out there… cheer up! Think about
how exciting it will be on the leading edge of this groundbreaking
technology!
Although
we will have to come up with a new way to housebreak our dogs.
