The Demise of Print

RIP: Psychological Abstracts Index

Sometimes the online version of product grows in content offerings while its print sibling remains bound by its print limits:

Important Details: The American Psychological Association (APA) announced
that it will discontinue print publication of its Psychological Abstracts
Index after the December 2006 issue. The decision was attributed to a
sharp decline in print subscriptions (from a high of 9,500 to less than
300); the wide availability of the online product; and the coverage gap
between the products - the print included only about 32 percent of
materials covered in the online version.

From http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/ListArchives/0607/msg00174.html

RIP: Thomas Register

The InfoCommerce  blog captures this early move from print to digital nicely,

Now that Thomas has killed the print version of Thomas Register, there will be a lot of soul searching by the industry with publishers asking themselves whether it's time to discontinue their own print products. While our research says that print will move into a period of accelerating decline over the next 2-5 years, most publishers will find that 20-25% of their customers will continue to prefer print for the foreseeable future. Most publishers can still economically accommodate this market. Thomas, with its 33-volume annual behemoth, was dealing with atypical print economics.

It is easier to make this decision when you have 33 volumes weighing you down.

Other links:

• "We’re a 106-year-old Internet company"