After the Lights Went Out, What Really Happened?
When fifty million electronics-hooked Americans lose their electricity for a night, you'd think that the world of content would come screeching to a halt while those of us scrambling for flashlights and candles were contemplating what to do for the evening. But as pointed out by SiliconValley.com and in the New York Times, electronic content was soldiering on through the night for the most part, as institutions now well-seasoned by terrorism threats kept their own systems going along with most of the Internet and wireless world, as well. In truth, "good old print" seemed to have somewhat of a harder time of it in some ways: morning newspapers were perilously thin when they arrived, with few articles and fewer ads, and local newsstands were hard-pressed to have many familiar titles on hand at all. It's easy to think of print as a much safer medium, but when it comes to an event of this magnitude, electronic delivery's maturity shines out clearly.