A Response to "Is the Demise of Newspapers Good for All Americans?"

Should we forget about the older generations that aren't as technology efficient? Yes, we should. They are demographic that doesn't need to exist. The preservation of outdated media such as newspapers is the only thing allowing this group to flourish.

As I pointed out in my original blog post, "I Don't Expect Too Many Tears at the Funeral of Printed News", surveys show that only a very low percentage of seniors stand by excuses such as "I don't trust technology" and "I'm too old to learn how" (5% and 13%, respectively). While many seniors would rather gather their information from paper, it's ignorant to say that they would not be able to learn how to use computers.

There are efforts all across the nation to raise the number of seniors behind the keyboards and mice of computers, and older people really have no excuse other than stubborn preferences. Once the availability of newspapers declines, older generations will have no shortage of willing assistants waiting to teach them how to use the internet for news. Like I said, there are a plethora of groups trying to do that even now.

As stated on Generations Online, the number of adults over the age of 65 surfing the internet increased from 7.6 to 9.6 million from 2002 to 2003. While that was just 11% of America's population over the age of 65, these numbers are from 2003. In the 7 years since then, America has become much more internet friendly and that number is sure to have risen. Some seniors even find it offensive that the younger generations assume they're incapable of adapting.

I can list all the statistics in the world about seniors over 65 using computers, but that surely won't change the life expectancy of these citizens. That's right, I'm going there. In the years it will take for newspapers to disappear from American culture, these internet refusing seniors will almost surely mostly perish. That means the 11% of Americans over 65 is rising not only because more seniors are accepting their binary commanded overlords, but also because the ones dying off are about 9 times more likely to be ones that don't use the internet.

So, yes Brittany Kirn, you may have a point about the decline of newspapers not being the best outcome for all Americans. The simple truth is that the vast majority will prefer this course of events, and the voice of a democracy doesn't have to be unanimously decided. It just has to be the opinion of the majority.