Periodicals in their current form are still a relatively cumbersome way to make short material available.

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In addition to their advantages, periodicals have always had significant limitations.   Among the most significant of these is their way of shoehorning material that is not time-sensitive into a form that disappears in the space of a month--and sometimes as little as a week.

When a car magazine reviews a particular model, is it reasonable to assume that people are only interested in that car during the month that the article appears? 

How about an article in a women’s magazine on how to communicate in relationships?  Is this information that’s pertinent only to one month, and useless thereafter?

© COPYRIGHT 2004 ROBERT WINTER.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.