Printpocalyspe

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Ryan McAbee • 2 Comments

Some think an apocalyptic event will mark the end of the Earth as we know it. It has something to do with the end of the Mayan calendar, predictions by Nostradamus, and who knows what else.

Most milestones are not marked by cataclysmic, instantaneous events. Change usually occurs slowly, at a pace that is harder to predict yet easy to ignore.

Publishers of content and print media continue to shift due to changing technology and consumer behavior. Digital media, almost all media at this point, is being consumed across laptops, tablets, smart phones, and TV. Tablets and smart phones offer most of the conveniences of paper with one big improvement — they’re fluid. They are not limited by physical space nor static data. They are the new newspaper, novel, business card, newsletter, and all sorts of items that had to be printed in the past.

While you may not agree with a “print free” day, it behooves the entire industry to plan for the day when there is no more ink to be put on paper. Instead mark a date on your electronic calendar and take those painful, but necessary steps so you can out last your own Printpocalypse.

Still think this day will never come? Then consider a couple of recent data points.

E-books out sold traditional books for the first time this week. (e-books sell for 1/2 to 1/3 less than printed books)
Dr. Joe Webb forecasts print shipments to be somewhere between 17 to 56 billion in 2018, down from almost 82 billion in 2011.

photo: Mark Holloway

http://www.companyfolders.com/ K Moore

Although I do think there will come a day when digital media will overtake physical media, I don’t think we’ll see the total end of printing as we know it. It will just join the long list of antiquated practices that are only relevant in niche markets. There came a time when blacksmiths and sword makers were no longer needed, yet there are still some who practice the art at renaissance festivals and historic recreations. I think there will always be a place in our heart for print– even if its just as a novelty from a long-forgotten time.
- Ryan
  
  Thanks for commenting!
  
  I, too, agree that there will always be some form of print in the market. A friend of mine uses a similar analogy but with wagon wheels. This is not to say that a niche businesses or hobbyist can sustain an industry. Just ask yourself when the last time you heard of a sword maker or industry who employees almost half a billion people with revenue in the billions as print did at the end of 2011.
  
  The hope, and point of the post, was to get us all thinking about the need to extend, expand, and transform, pivot, or whatever other term fits.
  
  And yes, I think everyone has an affinity for print, even the tablet toting bunch. That will probably take far longer to go away.
  
  On a similar note, Seth Godin is already selling books as a trophy/collector item through the Domino Project at a much higher price point.