Speculating on Print's Long-Term Future
Summary: The key to print’s future, in my opinion, is the functionality of print.
Lots of people have speculated on the death of print, and in some places, it is clearly dying. But Doc’s a big fan of the printed page and knows that in certain market segments there will likely be room for print for some time to come.
So I was intrigued to see an interesting article by Dr. Ronnie H. Davis, the Vice President and Chief Economist at the Printing Industries of America. In it, Dr. Davis speculates on print’s longer term future:
The key to print’s future, in my opinion, is the functionality of print. As pointed out in previous Flash reports and my recent book, Competing for Print’s Thriving Future, although many print products and services provide multiple functions we can sort data on shipments and plants by three major intended functions:
- Print intended to inform or communicate factual and editorial information such a magazines, newspapers, books and reports.
- Print providing product logistics to manufactured products-packaging, labels, wrappers, and product user manuals.
- Print intended to market, promote, or sell various products, services, political candidates, positions, or ideas-marketing and promotional print such as catalogs, direct mail, and brochures.
Of the three functions, only one-print logistics-is not subject to competition and substitution by digital media. Conversely, print’s inform or communicate function is subject to the highest risk of substitution from digital media. Print as a marketing, promotion and sales media appears to be in the middle.
It’s a long article with lots of interesting charts and graphs about print-industry data and print shipments. For you skeptics about print, it’s well worth a read. And if you’re in the commercial printing industry, you should definitely take a look as there is good data on where growth is likely to occur.
More from “The DocuMentor”
Topics
Biography
Doc
ZDNet introduces Doc (The DocuMentor), sponsored by RICOH. Through his blog, Doc will educate you about Document Management. So who is Doc? Doc is something of an enigma. He was born to a Russian ballerina and a German electrical engineer who some believe was running covert operations for shadowy corporate interests. Doc grew up in various locations in the United States, although no one seems to know precisely where, least of all Doc. His early schooling was unremarkable except for the time he was caught trying to replace all the mimeograph machines with high-tech color copiers that had mysteriously disappeared from a shipment to Albania. At MIT, he made a name for himself by transforming a large printer into a robot that hunts and eats Roombas. Professionally, he reportedly has seen the insides of more brands, versions, and generations of printer and printer-related hardware than almost anyone. Some say his obsession with paper, printing, and mechanical movement was either started by, or evidenced by, a traumatic childhood episode when he crawled inside an old Xerox 2400 and tried to print himself.
Anyway, Doc has hands on experience with stuff like printer maintenance and fleet management, but his mastery of document management leaves no stone unturned. Important issues like sustainability, security, and regulatory compliance are top of mind for Doc, as are other business technology needs like networking and IT services, making him a true blue IT renaissance man.
The discussion hasn’t started yet. Why don’t you begin it?
Quick Poll
Which imaging and document management trends are you most likely to consider?
Related Links
- New White paper: Managed Print Services and Beyond: How You Can Cut Costs and Go Green While Increasing Employee Productivity
- Learn how document management systems can help reduce the tide of paper that is swamping our offices
- Use software to cut costs by scrapping paper
- My printer, my social letterbox
- Doc on Twitter
- Doc on Facebook
- Doc on LinkedIn
Vendor Showcase
Blog Archive
White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
- Seven Keys to Success in Managing Your Business-Critical CloudNeed a few tips on how to manage your cloud infrastructure? Here are seven ... (Hewlett-Packard (HP))Download Now
- Solve the 6 Top Problems in Your Data CenterWhat are the top 6 problems in your data center and how do you solve them? ... (Hewlett-Packard (HP))Download Now
-
Quest Migration Assessment Tool (QMAT)Get a Free Migration Assessment
Considering a migration? The ... (Quest Software)Download Now
