Senior Account Executive

The other night, my annual People magazine subscription renewal notice came in the mail to my husband’s chagrin.

An example of previous years’ conversations:

Him: “Why do you care about other people’s live so much? People you don’t know and will probably never meet? ” he’s asked several times over the years.

Me: “It’s more than that, hon. People doesn’t sensationalize celebrity news (too much).  I also really enjoy the book reviews, real life/real people stories and can finish the crossword every week. It’s the ONLY magazine I subscribe to, I read the whole thing – cover to cover each week – so let me be.”

However, this year, something has changed. When he made mention of sending in the renewal check, our conversation went like this:

Him: “Your People renewal came today.”

Me: “You know what. Don’t renew it. Let it go.”

Him: “Who are you and what have you done with my wife?” (or something along those lines)

Me: “Yes. To be honest, I have been losing interest for awhile now. I find myself skimming, rather than reading the articles and I can get almost all my gossip and news online and my book reviews and recommendations on Goodreads.com. Yes, I think I am ready to let it go.”

The truth is, the other day I looked at our coffee table only to see four sizable library books, three People magazines and a couple of Us Weekly issues waiting for me. For the first time I actually began to regard my “entertainment” as a burden, a self-induced one, at that.

If I can’t get it easily and quickly (and free!) online, I’m probably no longer interested. And while I still prefer actual books to eReaders, I no longer need to have a paid, hard copy of People arriving in my mailbox weekly.

Is this the beginning of the end for traditional print publications materials? Will printed, mailed birthday and holiday cards cease to exist? Will Evite wedding invitations be deemed not only appropriate, but the norm sometime in the near future? Will traditional print newspapers and magazine finally, officially be replaced by online versions? What do you think?