Digital vs. Print

            Information is accessible to people in many different ways. Whether people learn through the newspaper or the web, society will gain vital information. In “Why Digital is Better than Print,” Dan Blank looks at a few of the reasons. As society continues to advance and expand, people must turn to digital over print, to reduce their carbon footprint and improve the ease in which they access information, proving that Blank is correct in his article.

            When a magazine is freshly printed, it looks wonderful. Firm and glistening, the pages burst with colors and entertain. Yet as time passes, those same colors that once popped begin to fade. The pages begin to wrinkle and the magazine loses its luster. On the other hand digital will look the same forever and as Blank states, “the ability to dive deep into the archives of all media to pull up relevant results the moment you need it” (Blank). Digital will stand the test of time, unlike print which will fade in piles of eyesores.

            Size matters, and in this case smaller is better. Newspapers can be large and overbearing, this point further emphasized when Blank states “that you could annoy the person next to you with the constant shuffling sound of the pages” (Blank). The ink from print constantly rubs off the pages onto everything, from fingers to clothing. Digital can be as compact as a smartphone, with no ink to stain its surroundings.

            As the world ages and societies continue to grow, people are running out of places to put garbage. Once print has come to the end of its uses, most people simply throw out the paper. Recycling is the better option, but is not always followed. Blank states that “digital certainly consumes energy, but the inherent waste is not as evident, as millions of copies of a single piece of content can be replicated and spread across the world in moments” (Blank), digital doesn’t need to be constantly thrown away and therefore takes up less space in our dwindling garbage space.

            As the years pass, digital will inevitably take over. Print continues to manifest itself due to it being what people are accustomed to, but it’s time is coming to an end. Smartphones and tablets make information more portable and easier to access. The days of printing are coming to a close.

Work Cited

Blank, Dan. “Why Digital Is Better Than Print.” I Feel Fine: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Web. danblank.com. n. p. 5 August 2000. web. 3 November 2014.