A decade ago, the mantra was "broadband changes everything." This decade's mantra may be "touch changes everything."
The Internet was just a minor player until dial-up modems were replaced by high-speed broadband connectivity. Broadband changed consumer behavior.
An Arbitron report in 2003 showed a 75 percent decline in time spent reading print newspapers when a household switched from dial-up to broadband Internet connectivity - from 24 minutes a day to just over six minutes a day.
A decade later, the impact of emerging/disruptive technology on the publishing industry has not abated. If anything, it is accelerating. Among trends:
Pew Research recently reported a near doubling - from 10 to 19 percent - of Americans who own either a touch-controlled tablet or an e-reader.
Smartphone penetration in the United States reached 44 percent in October 2011, and is likely to pass 50 percent this year. Just two years ago the penetration level was 18 percent.
Windows 8, to be introduced by Microsoft this year, will further fuel the development of touch technology across a whole new generation of laptops and other computer devices.
Meantime, the number of apps for Apple and Android users continues to skyrocket, with more than 500,000 programs now available for consumers to sample.
Look for even more as HTML 5 Web apps gain traction. They may not be as elegant as their OS counterparts, but their versatility and integration with search engines and social media are tangible benefits.
Taken all together, this year will be a watershed period, perhaps the beginning of the Touch Year. Think of it: Touch technology will be available on more than half of all U.S. cellphones, a quarter of Americans will own touch-based readers or tablets and the next round of laptops and desktop computers will support the concept.
All this will change consumer behavior. For instance, Pew just reported that during the recent holiday shopping season, 25 percent of cellphone owners used their phones to check competitive prices; 24 percent looked up product reviews while in the store; and 38 percent called friends for advice about purchases while they were walking around retailers' shelves.
There is no question that in response, merchants will need to make their products mobile-accessible, and the advertising media will need to continue their pivot toward mobile delivery.
For newspapers? Publishers can't ignore the signs. It's no longer a "don't touch" world.
