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Tuesday Mar 28, 2006
20% cut in emissions no longer possible
The Guardian reports that today Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary, will admit that the Government's pledge to cut CO2 emissions by 20% by 2010 is no longer achievable.
Volunteering magazine online
Why should an organisation produce a printed magazine when they can put the same information online and save paper and the costs of print and postage?
That, presumably, was the logic behind Volunteering England's (VE) decision to put Volunteering magazine onto their website rather than publishing it conventionally. But their decision has shown some of the pitfalls of favouring new technology over old.
The biggest problem is the difficulty of translating a print magazine into an online one. VE offer a fantastic amount of material in the online Volunteering but it is presented as a list of articles rather than a navigable website, which makes for a lot of scrolling. And articles are of a length that, while easy enough to read on paper, tend to make your eyes glaze over when reading on screen. Will people bother to print articles out? One reader, at least, has posted on the VE site to say that he will not.
Because the magazine is for members only, there is a problem if you want to share an item with someone who isn't a member. Of course, it makes it far easier to share with someone who does suscribe, and you couldn't email someone a printed magazine, but search engines, forums (like UKVPMs) and users tend to like access online to be open.
Online magazines lose the many qualities that print enjoys. Magazines like The Economist and Wired continue to thrive in the digital age not just because ink and paper is easier to read, but because it is portable and easy to share.
A printed magazine also feels special. Whether it arrives on your desk or through your letterbox, it has a physical presence and status. It demands to be read in a way that an email link does not.
Posted by Tom Green ( 9:00 AM ) Link to this post