Seton Hall Magazine, Winter 2000 - Seton Hall University

M e d i a
No More Paper, No More Printers, No More Presses
BY AGNES HOOPER GOTTLIEB ’75, PH.D.
Imagine the dilemma of the
poor journalism professor in
1899 who was asked to make
a few predictions of what the
media would be like in the
20th century. What a century
it was!
We saw the development
of radio as a viable communication
network, the
invention of television and
its ultimate conquest as the
dominant medium; and in the
final years of the final decade,
we saw a new medium — the
Internet — make an impact that none of
us could possibly have anticipated.
That poor journalism professor
obviously got it all wrong. There’s no
way that anyone but a science fiction
writer with the wildest of imaginations
could have predicted our reliance on
and the pervasiveness of media in
our lives today.
Now, don’t you feel sorry for me?
I’ve been asked to forecast the future
of media, and there’s a better than even
chance that I’m going to get it all wrong.
But here goes: Imagine all your
communication needs — news, entertainment,
message retrieval and mail —
delivered to you instantly on an 8-by-
11-inch, thin notebook-like, lightweight
plastic screen. That’s my prediction
for the future — and, as I gaze into my
crystal ball, I also predict that it’s going
to happen in our lifetimes.
We are living on the edge of the second
universal communication revolution.
The first began with Johannes
Gutenberg in the 15th century when he
created a feasible method of moveable
type that ultimately unleashed countless
ideas and heresies on the world.
For half the millennium, the printed
word was the only way to communicate;
now, perish the thought, it’s the only
outdated way.
14 SETON HALL UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
Newspapers
are dinosaurs — even the
assignment editors on major dailies
concede that, but it took millions of
years to kill the dinosaurs off, and
newspapers aren’t going to disappear
without a fight. There’s no question but
that newspapers as we know them
today will be extinct by the end of the
21st century. But those of you who relish
your newspaper with your morning coffee
need not despair. They will be
replaced by technology that is equally
accommodating and comforting.
Changes are already in progress. Let’s
face it: We all realized nearly 40 years
ago when President John F. Kennedy
was shot, and the nation sat glued to
their televisions, that newspapers
couldn’t compete with the immediacy
of that medium. Now, the challenge is
even greater. Newspapers have established
a presence on the World Wide
Web, but don’t really know where to go
from here. We’ve been told that the
Web is the perfect venue for classified
ads, long the backbone of newspaper
revenues, and newspapers are scrambling
to make sure they don’t lose this
source of income.
Visionary think tankers, paid big
bucks to sit in ivory towers and imagine
the future, predict the paperless
newspaper — a plastic notebook-size
tablet, perhaps — that delivers customtailored
news to subscribers. No more
paper, no more deliverers, no more
printers, no more presses. Press a
button, up comes your stock
quotes; another button
delivers sports.
They’ve got to be
kidding me. What will
I read with my morning
coffee? What are we to
wrap our potato peels in?
Will papier-mâché disappear?
Stay tuned for the next century.
And what do they say about television?
Surely the satellite dishes that
still conjure up images of flying saucers
and brave new worlds will become less
obvious and more compact. You’ll be
able to watch whatever you want (the
latest films, the most up-to-date news)
on that same tablet you carry your newspaper
on. Want to read a book? Buy it
from your subscription service and read
it online. Or better yet, let your tablet
read it to you.
Twenty years ago, only a few people
had answering machines and most of us
were put off by them. Now, we’re
annoyed at the arcane few who don’t
have that technology. Take that a step
further — our children will leave video
messages that we’ll play off that little
plastic box our newspaper showed up on
this morning.
Sure, laptop computers are a step
toward that, but until they eliminate the
keyboard and make the computers
respond correctly to our voice commands
(and already they’re starting to do that),
the future is still that. And those laptops
just don’t make it when you want to
wrap up a fish!
Whatever the outcome, it’s going to
be great to be part of the future! Enjoy
the ride.
Agnes Hooper Gottlieb ’75,
Ph.D., is an associate professor
of communication in the College
of Arts and Sciences and director
of the Elizabeth Ann Seton
Center for Women’s Studies.
STEININGER OTTO/SPOTS ON THE SPOT