[Sigia-l] The Time magazine person of the year is YOU

[Skot Nelson]

Olly Wright wrote:
> Does anyone know of a business model that Time could use to do this,  
> replacing its current model?

Kill the print publication. They can then post the proceedings of the 
revolution online.

The problem is that in the current media environment, Time is immensely 
more profitable in print. If they *did* kill the print publication 
others would likely pick up the slack...the people for whom Time 
Magazine was a reliable (I use the term loosely) source of information 
would look to another print publication for a replacement.

At least enough of them would. For now.

Time Magazine is designed and conceived as *mass* media. They push the 
*same* content out to million of people. The model just doesn't work for 
the "you" generation.

Nicholas Negroponte used to talk about television in the same way. The 
cult of television -- distributors, owners, stations -- all talked about 
the "500 channel" universe. The reality, as Nicholas used to point out, 
is that the goal should be a "1 channel" universe.

I don't want four magazine subscriptions: I want one, I just want the 
content that suits me.

Time Magazine will not convert until the economics of converting make it 
feasible. It's not a visionary media outlet, it's not a revolutionary 
organization: it's a profit centre for a mass media conglomerate

The question I have is: what timeframe will this change in? I consider 
myself the upper end of a bridge generation (35...ish) who uses both 
traditional and modern media. The next generation is not a bridge: they 
have been raised in the modern, Internet as media environment.

10 years? I think 20 is too long.

In 10 years will Time Magazine exist? Will any, as we currently think of 
them?