Content Consumption – Module 8

Over the past five years, both the content I consume, and the methods I use to consume it have changed drastically.

I’ve been an avid reader my entire life, and as such, I have a massive shelf full of books covering everything from your standard thriller, to your political diary. Funny thing is, that shelf essentially stopped gaining content over the past few years – as everything I read these days is neatly digitized on my iPad. J

The same goes for things like newspapers and magazines – all-digital on my iPad or read for free on the web. In fact, I get the majority of the days headlines from Google News – my first stop every morning.

While I might still read a print copy of a work, it would be essentially for one or two reasons:

   1.)  For some reason, what I want to read isn’t available in digital format.

   2.)  I want to retain a copy of the printed work because it has some monetary or sentimental value.

I find that I now consume content almost constantly, and through a myriad of devices depending on my location and situation. For example, I will often read the NYT on my iPad at home on the weekends, but will strike up Google News on my iMac before heading out the door for work.

If I’m in a meeting, I might glance at something on my iPhone, or view that same content on my MacBook at my desk.

I don't think there is any doubt that – over the past five years – I have made a significant shift away from physical media (i.e. paper, discs, books) toward digital media (i.e. digital mags, e-books, e-news), and would never look back. Put simply, the e-media is cheaper over the long term, more relevant and up-to-date, and can be consumed, organized, and retained much easier than physical versions of the same content.