Just Don't Drop It

Three weeks ago, I railed at the loss of some key sections of my Sunday paper, and the decisions of the local to essentially encourage me to abandon pulp for pixel by putting the stuff that once appeared on my doorstep on-line.

Ten days ago, I got my own iPhone.

Today, I'm asking why in the hell isn't my local paper providing me with an app that presents the content in the way I want it.

And, I'm not alone. Mark Potts among others is joining in the clarion call for newspapers to save themselves through subscriptions in the format we want. The money quotes:

"Seventeen-plus years ago, when I began working in new media, the one thing I always heard was that nobody would ever be able to read a newspaper on a computer while sitting on the john." Then I take out my iPhone, hold it up, and deliver the punchline: "Now you can, and I have. Regularly."

I suspect they will not give us the formats we want. Television as an industry is far more embracing of the net technology, and has recently begun to understand that they need to provide their content across every possible platform without impediment to the end user. They know if given the option, I will watch on my 48 inch plasma before my 19 inch computer or my 2x4 inch iPhone. But if I'm stuck in an airport, guess what, iPhone.

Newspapers remain stubbornly attached to old formats, first paper then static internet. The world is mobile. We're mobile.

I've spent more time the past 10 days reading the New York Times and Wall Street Journal because they freakin' get it and have the apps.

I don't think I'm alone when I say I'd pay my subscription to get all my local paper's content in an easy to navigate app format -- not firing up Safari and pinching and spreading to get the web on the iPhone.

The question for my colleagues -- will we as content creators and providers continue to live inside our printed media guides and static story-based websites -- or will we join the aggressive like MLB and jump for "advanced" media, not just "new" media.