Paperless in 2012???

So there seems to be some buzz circulating around the country about numerous businesses going paperless - leaving paper only necessary in bathrooms and in the hands of those with colds.

So maybe this is why newspaper organizations are down-sizing their paper products and vamping up their online websites. The Christian Science Monitor declared a bold move in the direction of online news after deciding to overwhelmingly cutback paper publications last spring. Eight newspapers in the state of Michigan announced a downsize to allow for "more innovation" on their websites, just last month. The Hartford Courant, the largest daily newspaper in the state of Connecticut, partnered with their broadcast news affiliate to talk about the smaller size of their newly condensed newspaper.



Hold one, just a minute! Patrick Dixon of Global Change, says that businesses should not use their last scraps of paper to write off paper publications just yet. Dixon is a futurist, business consultant who was once listed alongside Bill Gates as one of America's "top 20 most influential thinkers." He says that there is an undeniable emotional appeal to tangible paper publications. Dixon also says that people can more effectively read in paper form than they can online....

So maybe the Atlantic Online should take Dixon's points into mind and remember to keep it's paper product just as strong as it's online component.