Did ANY of the ignorant b@$t@rds that run the Chicago Tribune EVER have instruction in the basic economic concept of elasticity of demand?? Anybody?? Bueller?? Bueller??
I respectfully disagree. This is an environmental blessing. Raising the costs of delivery will result in further drops in circulation, thereby decreasing the numbers of trees that must be murdered to create the paper the “news” is printed on. Also, the carbon footprints of the huge logging trucks, that spew their exhaust into the air will be shut down. Oh—wow. No they ARE nuts.
The only hope I see for the Tribune company is Lee Abrams, who left XM Satellite Radio to become “Chief Innovation Officer” for Randy Michaels and Sam Zell. Abrams is a very savvy guy with lots of imagination, and while I don’t know if he can turn this battleship in a bathtub, I’d bet he will come as close as any human could. The question is not one of preserving the newspaper as it always has been, that’s already been determined. The question is, will traditional newspaper companies be able to re-invent themselves or suffer the fate of many others who have failed to make the jump to the next generation of technology. (aka “The Innovators Dilemma”...who among us has Seagate hard drives or Zip Drives anymore?)