Remember when we first started relying on computers at work,etc? Ok, I am probably dating myself! Unfortunately, I do remember! The big buzzword was the "paperless" office! Wow! We thought that paper was literally going to go away! All our storage issues would be solved! How has that worked out? I can pretty much guarantee that everyone now keeps a paper AND a paperless/virtual copy of important documents at work and home. Do we really "trust" our online documents?
One thing is for sure, paper is not going away any time soon..
Last week, two new online magazines launched:
Rue
and
Lonny
I spent some time going "through" both magazines. First of all, I have to admit I am a hoarder: I have stacks of design magazines that I haven't gone through, but can't bear to throw out yet; I have files of "resource library" materials---i.e. pages ripped out of magazines that I use for design ideas, and I am a big book collector (not antique!)---but not so much a big book reader! So I may not be part of the target (more young/hip?!) market of these online mags.
From this perspective, I will summarize what I found to be the pros and cons of these two magazines, in particular, and of online magazines, in general:
Overall, I found Lonny to be an easier online read. Here size does matter, and somehow the screen sizes and shots were larger and easier to read than Rue's---again I am showing my age!
I also liked that Lonny's Table of Contents is linked to the article, whereas Rue's Table of Contents is a static snapshot. I liked Rue's "Extras" section of take-home recipes and crafts (but didn't like that I couldn't preview them before downloading). Both sites employ hyperlinks on each magazine page to sources; but Rue seemed to have more advertising pages than Lonny's. Used as an online resource, the biggest advantage of these magazines is the quick browsing and hyperlink features. These web tools make the online magazine more than what you get in the paper version.
Having said that, although I browse magazines websites, I won't be giving up my hard copies any time soon! I find that I get lost: there is no beginning or end to an online magazine--you can easily jump around the site and "lose" your place. Before you know it, you are worlds away from the actual magazine. It leaves me wondering--am I missing something? In a hard copy, I can always mark my place and come back to it. There's a reason why it's called "surfing" the web, and as far as I am concerned it all contributes to my ADD. Keeping articles, clippings and other noteworthy things is harder for me online than saving the actual paper document. I have so many things that I "bookmark" online and then never look at again! Out of sight, out of mind! Plus, one computer blowup and my entire archive library is toast!
Of course, I am finding that my paper archives are stacking up and I have many vendor catalogues on my bookshelf that I never open because I go to the vendor website instead.
So, as a result, I now have paper and paperless versions of my design sources and resources---just in case! How about you, do you have a preference? Paper vs. Paperless?
