Digital media present severe problems of archiving or long-term storage. Time binding is a serious problem. Rag paper books last millenia while floppy disk records are suspect after five years, even with careful storage. Magnetically-encoded records can be swiftly destroyed with any common magnet. See this brief diatribe on telecomms billing practices - where distance does count.
Distance makes little difference in the time, cost or speed of getting information.
As such, these systems can be instructed to customize, individualize information for each user. The idea of mass media is challenged in an environment where different messages are crafted for each member of an audience. See this section of Being Digital for its discussion of personalization . Here are some details and a questionnaire you can use to see which category best fits you. If this seems invasive, some firms have tried for industry standards that allow the individual some control over use of their profile, yet provide standardized, reliable information to marketing firms, advertisers.