The shockingly smaller version of the Wall Street Journal that debutted Jan. 2 is perhaps the most poignant reminder that newspapers are in serious decline. The influential Columbia Journalism Review called it "shrinky dink." Bloggers had a field day. How does this fit my "If it ain't broke…" blog? Well, the WSJ feels more broke than it was. The words "tiny" and "miniature" come to mind and no matter how much the publishers tell you the slimmed down newspaper is good for you, the move is to reduce costs. I've been through a half dozen cuts in "trim size" as we say in the biz, and no matter how much BS we threw at the marketplace, smaller trim size was ALWAYS to save money. The WSJ is no different. The WSJ's publishers spun it this way: "Improved Navigational Aids; Better Online and Print Alignment; and New Content Features." It's fancy language with grains of truth at best. The Jan. 2 press release mentions nothing about the estimated $18 million a year the WSJ would save.
I asked a WSJ reporter friend how he liked the new format and, of course, he didn't. The WSJ is an institution (even if its editorial page frequently goes off the deep end) and the journalism is first rate. It's distinctive large broad sheet was it trademark and now that's gone. Many other newspapers are doing the same thing as revenues dry up and greedy investors clamor for the high profit margins of yore. Clearly, Dow Jones with publishes the WSJ wanted to make subscribers think to a bad thing is really good. All I can say is that I'm glad the same marketers don't fill the pages of this venerable but not diminshed newspaper (for whose online version I used to be columnist).
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Plastic may not be the most beloved of materials to the more environmentally minded, but Plasti 2012 aimed to mold a different opinion of the material in people's minds.
The rare earth element market has become steadily more rational, and new sources coming online will continue to reduce costs. Still, it is unlikely that prices will drop to their former lows.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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