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There seems to be an app for almost everything these days. Companies are looking to cut costs to keep up with today’s ever-growing technological era. In an effort to keep up with the times, Google released an app for paper catalogs.
According to an article by Tim Conneally titled “Google skips Web shopping, ports paper catalogs directly to iPad,” paper catalogs have been a staple in American retail since the 1860’s. However, it is simply impossible to ignore the popularity of tablets. Therefore, Google decided it would be best to offer tablet versions of paper catalogs as a free app for the iPad. It’s called Google Catalogs.
According to the article, other comparable apps usually take web-based content and put it in a magazine-style format, which is called “The Flipboard Treatment.” However, Google simply offers online versions of paper catalogs.
An article by Arthur Middleton Hughes titled “Catalogs: Paper or Web,” explains why paper catalogs are here to stay. Hughes explains that paper versions of catalogs can be carried around the house, hung on refrigerators, and be read pretty much anywhere anytime. On the other hand, web-based catalogs are passive devices and can only be read while the consumer is sitting in front of a computer. He concluded that web catalogs are primarily an ordering mechanism. Click here to read more from Hugh’s article explaining why paper catalogs are here to stay.
It seems paper catalogs may eventually be replaced with online versions. What are your thoughts? Do you think paper catalogs will continue to be a staple in American society or do you think online versions will eventually replace the paper versions?
Here is a YouTube video describing the free Google app, Google Catalogs.
