Re: Newspapers are doomed?

From: C. Antonio Romero <romero_at_alumni.princeton.edu>
Date: Fri 22 Sep 2000 14:35:42 -0500

LEONARD KUEK <lkuek_at_thenew.net> WROTE:
> Ok I'm no media expert either but here's my opinion.
> Ebay is not a threat to classifieds because:
> a) People prefer to inspect a SECOND HAND purchase
> before they buy it. They just want to make sure they
> get what they pay for.
> b) People will look for something local before they
> will look for something remote. Classified cater to
> localities and will beat E-bay hands down.

Actually, EBay has a thriving local-auction capability
at this point. You still don't have the ability to
pre-inspect goods, really, but at this point a lot
of goods are sold and bought this way. I know this from
experience, having unloaded a bunch of home-stuff I
didn't want via eBay (exercise equipment, old computer
stuff, small kitchen appliances &c..) locally.

> c) Bad media from online scams (ie. PayPal) create a
> reluctance to use E-commerce.

Doesn't seem to have slowed eBay down much to me... :-)

> d) Baseline of normacy for computer literate
> individuals. Though computer literacy is on the rise,
> there are many people who stick to traditional means of
> procuring information because that's what they know
> best. Thus they will always look in print media before
> they go online. If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

Well.. time passes. Give things another three years and
the newspapers who haven't adapted will be screaming for
mercy... Look at all the Internet Appliances expected to
surface in the next 12 months, targeting those who don't
want PC's-- everything from cell phones to Tivo/WebTVs
to standalone devices. This won't take long.

I think there will always be a market for local classifieds,
for the reasons you cited... but they won't always be
print. Especially once people realize they can set
up watches on the ads online (i.e. "Alert me when any
Tiffany lamps appear in the listings), and once
advertisers can include photos, long descriptions &c.
that make direct inspection less necessary, things'll
move pretty quick.

-Antonio Romero





Received on Fri Sep 22 2000 - 14:35:42 CDT