A Newspaper Insert Made of Hard Plastic

In the age of new media, when many newspapers are focusing on Web sites, one paper is offering an insert on a CD-ROM disc.

In an announcement last Wednesday, The Dallas Morning News said it would distribute CD-ROM copies of Hollywood Previews magazine in certain Sunday issues. In the 1990's, CD-ROM's were seen as a viable new venue for media, but they never flourished.

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Questions I'm thinking about:
Would this give more value if a CD came in my Sunday Edition of the Tennessean?
Would this add to my already information overload? (YES!) - I recently purge many of my Bloglines feeds...
Does the proliferation of used and unused CDs add to the landfill aka the AOL cds?

Alan Moore comments When every trend is against you - the print media article "Readers prefer digital sources. Loyal readers average age is dramatically growing and with many titles is nearing retirement age. What was once suggested that TV would be the end of reading newspapers and magazines, today that reality is coming but it is more interactive video on the internet, video gaming and mobile phones that is taking the majority of younger readers' interests."

"Older generations may love print, but the younger generations are clearly showing they don't need printed newspapers, printed magazines, nor printed books."

Should newspapers adopt insertions of CDs, I think the timing is right to help fuel acceleration away from traditional newspapers as a source of content. The internet will always be around to supply content, but I'm pondering if I receive a Time Magazine or Wired Magazine subscription on CD Rom, is that a better value for me in terms of convenience, archival purposes and certainly use of paper, not to mention paper clutter around the house?

The user interface has to be done right -