re: Newspapers/Internet & Paper/Digital Media: In a few years we’ll have digital interfaces that equal the pixel quality of real-life paper (according to Alvy Ray Smith). This will force convergence, not a dichotomy, as you point out. Some old-school newspaper companies will go digital on OLED interfaces. The biz models have yet to be figured out, but one thing’s for sure – the web will spread out into the world. – As things accelerate we’ll get unprecedented convergence that will disrupt many people’s long-term and short-term linear predictions.

re: your Consumption Hierarchy – I like how you’ve layed that out. It’s very pyramid shaped. I find that I and many of my peers engage in exactly the same sequence of info assimilation. Wonder if someone’s converted such observations into theory. It’s a useful model.

re: the line between Learning & Real-World consumption styles – That’s very valid and helps to explain why new ideas diffuse most quickly among youth, then spread upwards. When you look at a lot of web apps, especially social stuff like MySpace and Facebok, you see that these are adopted broadly among youth and then only later do the older generations jump on board. Thus, the young with disposable time can do the initial hunting, and the older time-strapped vets can do the vetting.

Very useful post.