With next week’s big announcement from Apple about something huge, some sort of tablet or slate computer, things in the digital world are coming to a new age of development. Already the Amazon Kindle and Kindle Dx have been taking Eink technology and redefining the book industry by taking into a useable digital experience. You could say they own the category…for now. So much like the digital song download revolution with Napster and iTunes, an epitaph on media you have in your hands in being written. I say not so fast.I say be careful before you usher in the idea that Print is dead. While I am very excited about new media coming on board in my life and seeing old media like newspapers and magazines become repackaged in new ways digitally, I am also just a sure about not wanting throw out old man print. I have several reasons why I don’t think I have anything to worry.
1.Premature End of Life Statements- There is one thing we have learned about premature death watches on media, they are well…premature. Take the compact disc format. Guess what it is still around kicking and screaming. As soon as the iPod and iTunes went mainstream, they were given their marching orders to hit the road. That was 10 years ago, and guess what is still making it rounds. There is no question, that digital has dominated. I got a CD holder for Christmas 2 years ago, and I remember thinking, I have no use for this. I had make the switch, but a lot of people have not. Many still use both. Having physical media has not been dropped from the minds of consumers. Go to a concert, or a release party, do you see them distributing mp3’s to everyone? Look I love digital. I love what it does for access. I love how some artists have used it to promote themselves, but the truth is it has not killed off physical media the way we all thought. It just lessened how much was being made.
Print media will go the same route. It will take much longer for it to die. People just don’t switch that fast.
2.User Experience – Ok so I know this one is highly based on my opinion, but that’s kind of the point. User experiences have always dug in as the strong hold of any conversion from one media to the next. The iPod was not the first Mp3 player, it was the first to make it a great experience for everyone. Itunes was not the first Mp3 download marketplace, it was the one who made it happen easier, more fun. The user has already many years of experience in print media. Habits such as how people read the newspaper, books, and magazines cannot be overlooked. Right now we are at the place where that experience being translated digitally has not quite happened yet. Browsing and discovering what happens inside of a magazine will be tough. I really don’t want it to be the web. I have a separate set of ideas for that, for me print media is much different. I don’t need a battery for it. I don’t have to worry about spilling something on it and messing it up. I don’t have to worry about my eyes fatiguing. I can pick up and put down a magazine and find something different every time for quite a while. That process of discovering is what I love. There is just something to the tangible experience of holding something. And while I am a geek through and through, I get my news online, the web rides shotgun with my life, I still love a great print piece.
Make no doubt someone will come along and redefine that user experience. It may happen next week, then again maybe it won’t. Don’t underestimate how many people still love print media in their hands.
3.Art – Again with the subjective nature of this argument, I know you will have some beef with me. Print media is an art form. And one thing is true about art, it always lives on and gets rediscovered and reinvented. It may have high and low points, but it will be available. While the number of print media forms may shrink, their value will increase. Doing something in print with great paper textures and packaging will stand out even more to the intended recipient. Don’t think so, consider the written note. Has the value of a written note increased or decreased since email and Facebook stormed the playing field? Has texting made actual conversation just a thing of the past or even more of an important experience for humanity? Did hymns get less important or more important as the now are being remade and spotlighted in services rather than just the norm?
Trust me I know the print industry landscape is changing dramatically. Newspapers are struggling, magazines have shut down, print shops are closing, but is all of this simply to demand or are there other issues at stake. Every industry has been through these changes. Change will happen and is happening with digital media as the dominant partner. It is foolish not to go with that flow. Many media companies have been so late to the party they just could not catch up. Others were too bloated and it caught up to them. Still more had different reasons. One thing I know for sure is this. I welcome the digital age, no I embrace it, I am it. I will however continue to mark up my printed Bible with anticipation of discovering something. I will enjoy Wired magazine for a couple months at a time. I still do print pieces to get the word out to this next generation of parents and students. I will do all of this along side the digital platforms for several years to come. Print is not dead…Yet.
I agree, especially with your third point about art being recycled. One of the big trends in Nashville right now is to have parties with friends that are musically enhanced by none other than . . . RECORD PLAYERS and 45’s. It’s a big deal to have record parties; and people treasure them, seek them out like collectors and have created a whole new 21’s century sub-culture in one of the country’s music hubs. I doubt many people saw that trend coming.
I was totally nodding my head the whole way through. While the iPad (or giant iTouch) is a great luxury, it’s not a good investment just yet. In a year, consumers will be kicking themselves for not waiting until all the kinks are worked out. That’s just how technology works. I’ve had three iPods in the past seven years, all of them more technologically advanced than the next. I’ve been waiting for six months (since my last huge purchase from the Mac store) for something better to come along, and here it is. If there’s one thing I love, it’s watching society go crazy about brand new technology. Here’s the thing about “brand new” in today’s world; If it’s already been released to the public, it’s old news. Having your finger on the pulse gets you nowhere. You have to be ahead of the game. That’s how all industries work these days.
All that aside, print is totally NOT dead. Our economy is not in a position to eliminate print, and I doubt we will be any time soon. It’ll take decades. First and foremost, schools can’t all afford the Kindle or the iPad. Books are the cheapest and most reliable form of education. Secondly, there won’t be digital books in doctor’s offices for our convenience, not yet at least. Next, print is WAY classier. Everyone feels the whole “retro, back to basics” thing. I mean, look at the photography world. Instant film, fisheyes and pinhole cameras are all making a huge comeback. Polaroids were pretty much dead until the whole “Indie/Hipster” lifestyle brought it back. So, this whole digital world has been a major worry for independent printers, but others see it as another job opportunity. The difference between print and digital is vast. Having the information in your own hands can be much more convenient in some aspects. It’s definitely way more portable. While the internet is here to make life easier, not everyone can afford the new technology that the digital world keeps throwing at us. Magazines and newspapers are still a major form of getting the facts. So maybe computers save paper. Maybe they’re quicker to navigate, but the same experience one gets out of the two just isn’t there. I still have hope for the print world. Digital is just the next big thing, but you’re exactly right. I’m still rockin’ all my mixes on my compact discs. “Hey. Burn me a CD,” isn’t dead yet. So, I don’t put my money on magazine racks disappearing from the supermarket anytime soon.