The Future May Be Something You Can Hold

Books would disappear. Newspapers would disappear. Record stores would disappear. DVDs, CDs, magazines and printed photographs would become relics from another time.

Convenience, we were told, would always win.

Then something interesting happened. The generation that grew up with nearly unlimited digital access began rediscovering the things previous generations were encouraged to leave behind.

In a recent Forbes article, writer Kian Bakhtiari explores why members of Generation Z are buying vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, printed books and magazines. These are young people who generally do not remember life before smartphones, streaming services and social media algorithms. Yet some of them are intentionally choosing media they can touch, display, share and actually own.

That distinction between access and ownership matters.

A favorite movie can disappear from a streaming platform. A song can become unavailable. A social media account can be suspended. An online article can be altered, buried beneath thousands of newer posts or lost when a website closes.

A book on your shelf is still there.

A photograph in an album can be handed to a grandchild.

A newspaper clipping can be placed in a scrapbook, framed on a wall or tucked inside a family Bible.

Physical media gives permanence to moments that might otherwise vanish into the endless digital stream.

There is also something exhausting about having everything available all the time.

We have hundreds of television programs but spend 30 minutes searching for something to watch. We have millions of songs at our fingertips but sometimes listen to the same playlist repeatedly. We scroll past hundreds of headlines, videos and opinions without truly absorbing any of them.

The Forbes article calls attention to the boundaries created by physical media. A record has an ending. A magazine has a final page. A newspaper can be folded and set aside. There is no algorithm immediately serving up another outrage, advertisement or distraction.

Physical media asks us to make a choice.

You choose the book. You place the record on the turntable. You sit down with the newspaper. You give it your attention.

That small amount of effort can make the experience more meaningful.

This does not mean digital media is going away, nor should it. Digital platforms allow news to travel quickly. They connect communities, provide immediate updates and allow readers to access information wherever they are.

We need both.

Digital media gives us speed. Print gives us space.

Digital media tells us what is happening right now. Print often gives us an opportunity to slow down and consider why it matters.

Perhaps that is part of what younger generations are seeking. They are not necessarily rejecting technology. They are trying to establish a healthier relationship with it.

They are also looking for something human.

Our social feeds are filled with content selected not by local editors who know our communities, but by algorithms designed to keep us clicking.

The Forbes article suggests that younger consumers are increasingly interested in curated, editorial content created by recognizable human voices. Print magazines and other physical publications offer an experience that feels intentional rather than endless.

That should be encouraging to those of us who believe in community journalism.

A local newspaper is more than ink placed on paper. It is a weekly record of who we are.

It contains the groundbreaking ceremony, the school honor roll, the championship game, the new business, the church homecoming, the wedding announcement, the obituary and the decisions made by local government.

These stories may appear online first, but print gathers them together and says, “This week mattered.”

Years from now, someone may find an old newspaper in a box and see the name of a grandparent, a photograph of a childhood friend or a story about the community they once called home.

There is value in that kind of permanence.

Maybe physical media is not returning simply because it looks nostalgic or makes an interesting background for a social media photograph. Maybe people are beginning to understand what we surrendered in exchange for convenience.

We gained immediate access to almost everything, but sometimes lost the ability to hold on to anything.

The future will not be entirely digital or entirely physical. It will likely belong to those who understand the purpose of both.

The screen can tell us what is happening.

The printed page helps us remember.