If you are reading this article, congratulations. You are reading one of the few newspapers in Alabama that has not decreased its print publication. The City of Tuscaloosa has remained faithful in its newspaper publication with The Crimson White and The Tuscaloosa News.

With newspapers in Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile dropping to delivery on only three days a week, The Tuscaloosa News has taken steps to fill the void, including covering more news in the Birmingham area, which allows them to begin delivering to Birmingham locations.

We live in a world where technology is thriving, and traditional publishing is declining. People are trading print for online news. The book publishing industry is on the decline, and major publishers Penguin and Random House have had to merge in order to prosper in today’s competitive publishing world.

As we place more emphasis on technology, we begin to create a society dependent upon machines – a generation dependent upon machines. We’ve all heard the horrifying surveys of people choosing to go a week without brushing their teeth rather than a day without their phone. It is as if we have defined ourselves as the iGeneration.

As much as I love my phone, it sometimes takes the place of some necessities in life. Phone calls can replace personal interactions, and texting can replace phone calls. Even further, Twitter and Facebook statuses can eliminate a reason to catch up with a friend over a cup of coffee.

But there are great things about technology, too. During Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, people were encouraged to save their time and battery power by using social media to update friends and family on their statuses.

So, while the romantic in me cringes at a world where text messages replace handwritten letters, and swiping your finger through an electronic book or newspaper replaces flipping through pages of a hard copy, technology can help us in hard times. What’s important is whether we allow ourselves to be dependent in times of need or times of want.

Hannah Waid is a freshman majoring in journalism and English. Her column runs biweekly.