Are you switching off from digital media?

As the lines between work and home time become increasingly fuzzy and our modern day life so intense, people are being drawn to paper based media as a way of slowing down, relaxing and switching off from all the digital media and noise!

Technology is affecting our lives exponentially; it doesn’t tire easily; is constantly changing, evolving and getting faster!

Change and development are good things without technological development the world wouldn’t move forward.

More and more content is being made available, quicker, richer through every conceivable channel and device known to man from T.V, ipad, PC, smartphone, SMS, mobile phone and so the list goes.

Information is in abundance, anything you want to buy, need to understand or want to look at is viewable at a swipe of the hand or a touch of a button.

But have we gone too far? Are our brains becoming saturated with too much information? Are we coping with managing this information from social media and the internet and the speed in which it moves?

Only you can answer that definitively!

The last two decades the rate of technology has increased year on year; the social media revolution has exploded, proliferating into each and everyone of our lives.

There has been miles and miles of copy written on social media; how it has changed our lives, what impact it has on our businesses.

I believe there is a slow noiseless rebellion in our midst; with lines between work and home time becoming ever increasingly blurred people are looking for a way of escaping from “always being in contact”; always “on” social media; perhaps that refuge is the printed word?

Is it possible that although we once viewed the printed word as a our primary source of news and articles; we are now turning toward it in search of solace and relaxation? Where we switch off from our screens and mobile devices by turning to print to help us relax, tune out and read at our own pace rather than being governed by the speed of the internet.

I, for one can lay claim to the above, I’ve always enjoyed reading books, magazines and the written article why? Because its tactile, the smell and feel of a new book; you appreciate turning over a page and the satisfaction of completing a novel; something you don’t get with an e-reader or mobile device!

Print is a distraction from our ever increasing work-life balance; you become absorbed into the contents without being distracted by an email ping or other distractions. Reading print gives you time to yourself, time to reflect. OK so the same can be said using an e-reader but there is something more fulfilling about reading the printed word as opposed to holding a screen in front of you.

When I started composing this article I became aware when I was out and about in London just how many people were absorbed into books or magazines I hadn’t really given it any credence at that point and then it made me analyse why it might be that people are straying back to print. Could it be a way of getting out of our fast paced modern world to just slow down, relax and reflect.

Despite billions being spent on digital technology and there can be no disputing its influence pervading our lives; it has improved our lives everyday; the opportunity to relax isn’t one of its advantages.

There is a general view that online or digital publications should be free rather than paid for; yet we feel comfortable subscribing to a magazine. Is this something to do with print being tactile?

Could it be that printed publications are a way of telling us a little bit more about the person, what their interests are and what it says about them?

Why do you think so much investment is put into the covers of glossy magazines and books? It adds to the uniqueness and attraction to the purchaser.

Does the newspaper or magazine tell us a little bit more about the person who is holding it in a subliminal way?

In our life where time is currency; time is a precious commodity; what is it that we all want but very rarely get enough of time!

There are still a few pleasures in life to be had; a fine wine, delicious food and reading a book on warm summer evening where time becomes irrelevant as you sink into that comfortable chair and enjoy a good read!

Do you still read a book or a newspaper?

Do you enjoy the printed word and reading from a mobile device?

Are publications, books, paper dead? Has technology really sealed the fate of the book?

What are your thoughts?