On getting the Globe and Mail

When the Globe and Mail went through a massive redesign recently, they not only redesigned the website, they also spent a lot of money on the print edition of the Globe and Mail.

I know four people who work at the Globe and Mail so when they offered a three-month free trial for their print edition, I signed up and the first issue was delivered the following Monday.

Here’s the problem – I’ve only read the Saturday edition. I haven’t read the Monday to Friday copies. They go right into recycling.

The problem isn’t the redesign, it’s the fact that I just don’t want to sit down with the paper during the week. Not to mention that by time I open my door I’ve already made coffee, checked my email, RSS feeds, Twitter and Facebook – all of which give me my news. That doesn’t even cover the news sites I visit – the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the National Post and the New York Post.

Being wired up the wazoo makes it easy for me to get the news when I want it and part of me appreciates the fact I don’t have to recycle after I’ve read the news. With the paper it sits in my recycling bin for a few days until I take it downstairs and I get annoyed when I see it in the bin, just taking up space.

So did the redesign bring me back to reading newspapers? Nope. Just like watching the issues pile up in my recycling bin, I feel that the money spent may not have been worth it.