Seattle Post-Intelligencer Abandons Print

Since computer nerds are the first to ditch print for the Web, the death of print started with the top computer geek publication of them all: PC Magazine. It continued into something slightly less geeky: Electonic Gaming Monthly.

Now the death of print cascades into something decidedly more mainstream. After 146 years of selling dead trees, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer just ditched print to go completely online. Yesterday’s edition was the last to be printed. The P-I is Seattle’s oldest newspaper, and by far the largest American newspaper to make the jump.

It won’t stop here. Nicholas Carlson has determined that it’s cheaper to send newspaper subscribers e-readers than to actually print a year’s worth of issues. The P-I’s publisher, Hearst Corporation, is about to do exactly that — with everything from the San Francisco Chronicle to Cosmopolitan.

Steve Rubel sees the end of all tangible media by January 2014. Luddites comfort themselves by thinking only computer nerds ditch print for the Web. The P-I just robbed them of that comfort.

(Via Joey Alarilla.)

Like This Post: Share This Post: Tweet This Post Share on Facebook Stumble This Post Post to Reddit