Electronic version vs. Hard Copy

I was one of the people who really enjoyed reading news on the paper. The feeling it gave when I touch and the smell were pulling me into the lives I was reading the news of. When I moved to the United States, that newspaper I was waking up for every morning was probably the biggest sacrifice I had to make. Since it was impossible to reach the paper copy of the news in Turkey every morning, I started myself getting used to the electronic copies which I can’t do without now.

Hurriyet, the most popular newspaper in Turkey, is my starting page in my computer. It gives me opportunity to start the day with my favorite columnists and offers me the most recent news that happens in my country. After I started using it for a few months, I realized that I now like the electronic copy more. In a paper copy, you cannot read the most recent news since there is a publication period before release. You can only learn about the news that happened the previous day. However, the online websites of the newspapers put the hottest news right that second and you can watch people commenting on that news too. It’s kind of a live news system.

Another thing that I like so much about the electronic version is the “related news” part. Whenever I click on a news on the website, it gives me the chance to look at the previous news on that topic as well. This way, I can see what happened before and what changed. It offers the people who are reading about that topic for the first time, the chance to get background information, which I think, is very crucial. Not everyone can track the news everyday; so electronic copies are better to enlighten people about a topic from the beginning.

The electronic versions of the newspapers are better for the companies, which give advertisements to the newspapers as well. When their ads are on the website, the reader can click on the advertisement and directly move to the company’s website.  So the company reaches the potential customer quicker. In a paper copy, readers see the advertisement only and they search about the product or the service later with their own efforts, if they remember about it. So if I were a company owner, I would prefer electronic versions of the newspapers to give advertisements to.

It’s not just newspaper that I like the electronic version of. Nowadays I watch Turkish series from a website that offers High Definition Quality. I connect the laptop to the T.V. screen and feel like I’m in my country and watch the Turkish T.V. channels. This website allows you to stop and restart whenever you want and skips the commercials which I hate. So when I visited my country last year, I realized that I got used to watching it without ads and stopping it when I need to grab something from the kitchen.

Even though many people still do not prefer electronic copies, I think it’s because they did not have to use them yet. Once they start using it, I’m sure they won’t stop since they will get used to the features that electronic versions of media tools offer.