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    Is There Any Value Left in Print?

    Twtletter

    So I jokingly posted a tweet this morning about wanting to start a newsletter. You know those things that people used to print out and mail? Joke aside I kind of really wanted to do it. I don't know why. I don't even know what I'd write about that would be better suited for print than a blog.

    Sure I may get analog with my note taking but read print? I still like books in print but that's because it's something permanent. Books are something I want to keep. I always wanted to grow up and have a whole room that was a library. Of course I also wanted to grow up and be an astronaut.

    Then I saw this post from TechCrunch about The Print Blog heading to the recycle bin. And instead of making me toss my idea aside it kind of made me want to go through with it. I don't know why!

    Goodbye, Printed Blog

    the_printed_blog
    Remember the Printed Blog? It was a newspaper - on actual glossy paper - that would syndicate posts from the Interwebs. Josh Karp founded it six months ago and he ran through 16 issues and 80,000 copies - all on his own dime. And now it’s dead.


    Maybe it's some kind of weird nostalgia from my college days of printing a 'zine. (Mine was called Pinion and was the normal drivel you'd expect from liberal arts majors: ranting opinion pieces and bad poetry submissions from me and my friends) Maybe it's because this was such a point of interest at my last employer HP. Maybe it's just the contrarian in me that wants to swim up stream. Maybe it's because I want to see if there is any value in print.

    What do you think? Is there any value in print? What would you want in print that you wouldn't want online?
     

    Tags » Marketing Trends
    • 7 July 2009
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    over 2 years ago melissalion responded:
    I'm sad to see the Printed Blog go. I was published in one of their first issues. It was a great way to get bloggers and non-bloggers together.

    Maybe a better thing is an option for bloggers to publish a small pamphlet of their best posts. So, each issue would feature one blogger. And one illustrator or photographer. Publish them monthly?

    over 2 years ago Jeff Reynolds responded:
    There are lots of things I like better in print: Outside Magazine, Islands Magazine, Nature Conservancy's newsletter, topographic maps, impressionist paintings, etc.

    I don't need my news in print. That's dumb. But lots of things are not only more aesthetically pleasing, but much more practical in print: Photos look better, they can be folded and written on, and, most importantly, I can (easily and comfortably) read them while laying in my hammock.

    The *death* of print is exaggerated. Obviously, not everything--not even most stuff--needs to be printed. Blogs being one of the most obvious. But there is plenty of stuff that is better in print. Yes, even some newsletters.

    over 2 years ago mb responded:
    Why is it sad?

    Should not content and access dictate the medium?

    If you have content in demand and an avenue to deliver it, do it. With print, you lose the immediacy. That's why yesterday's news is a silly addiction that only leads to the ceasing of dinosaurs like Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Rocky Mountain News. Actually, where The Printed Blog and RMN quit altogether, at least Seattle PI had the decency to maintain their online presence.

    …

    Okay, so I was thinking about this, too: The reason we love print is because we were trained to use it. The next generation who aren't trained on it won't miss it. (They won't miss the smell of freshly pressed vinyl records or the sound of clicking typewriters or post from the Pony Express or making fire by rubbing two sticks together either.)

    So what's the point? By printing, we are certainly fulfilling the needs of the majority of folks, but they have an expiration date. So long as there is a more convenient way to deliver the news, do it.

    That said, print still serves many industries just fine. Like, for instance, those door stops with everyone's obsolete landline phone numbers in them were totally printed! Neat, huh?

    over 2 years ago melissalion responded:
    mb -- hunny. C'mon. I know what you do and I know that you use printed material there. Or was that irony? Irony is so hard to identify, particularly on the internetz.

    I think the death of print media is long overdue -- it's archaic and ridiculous. But I also think there are many opportunities to enjoy printed things. I mean, sometimes we all need to disconnect and to enjoy things. Like books or magazines. Or whatever else some kid who actually does miss the clicky clack of typewriters invents.

    over 2 years ago mb responded:
    @melissalion

    I never said I didn't love print.

    A lot of what I do will remain printed. And I like what Jeff Reynolds said:
    <quote>The *death* of print is exaggerated. Obviously, not everything--not even most stuff--needs to be printed. Blogs being one of the most obvious. But there is plenty of stuff that is better in print. Yes, even some newsletters.</quote>

    over 2 years ago melissalion responded:
    Okay. And I agree about the phone book.
    over 2 years ago David Patton responded:
    David Patton
    What's your audience? Arguably, you could reach a new group of people with your wisdoms by doing a newsletter.
    over 2 years ago TylerInCMYK (Twitter) responded:
    Cahead_normal
    First: I work in the printing industry. I make my living by applying pigments to dehydrated cream-of-wood, over and over and over and over and o....

    That said: as a 35 yo printing sales guy, I'm focused on packaging because that will be the last printed product to disappear.

    But I don't think this is the discussion Tac was starting. I suspect Tac is talking more about the delivery of information and ideas (e.g. newsletters, newspapers, reports, books). I think that the above comments are all valid. I'd like to add only this: print is more credible. And this credibility is directly related to the cost of delivering your message in print. You can retract/edit your internet pubs with a keystroke. You've outlaid hundreds if not thousands of dollars before the first pair of eyes graces your printed page.

    You better get it right. The first time. Your readers know this.

    I could spend hours talking about the aesthetics of print: of dimension, tone and texture. But I suspect no one is interested in that. I don't see anyone predicting the demise of painting or sculpture.

    Cheers!

    over 2 years ago jonguydude (Twitter) responded:
    S1186250634_30079990_4950_normal
    I think you may have to frame the question a bit better - are you specifically talking about print media? Either way, I offer this response.

    Yes there is value in print. And it's probably related to what Tyler notes above.

    As a graphic designer and producer of both print and online material, the permanency is the key for me. I can hold a printed piece, save it, and enjoy it later. (People still print out photos taken on digital cameras.) Especially a piece that holds some sort of personal or emotional value - a rock poster, the program or announcement from a monumental event. I can even save a newspaper that has a headline that announces a moment in time. It is immediately a limited edition. And most importantly, for me, it looks and feels completely different than the screen I stare at or the smallish version printed off of my inkjet printer.

    -jon

  • Tac Anderson's Posterous

    Post-Social. Futurist.
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    Husband of Jen. Father of 3.

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  • About Tac Anderson

    Post-Social. Futurist.
    Digital anthropologist.
    Gen X. Geek.
    Expat from Seattle, living in London.
    Husband of Jen. Father of 3.

    This is a collection of notes, thoughts and pics that I've created, collected and then scattered across the Web.

    Find me on the Web:
    Twitter: @tacanderson
    New Comm Biz
    /tacanderson
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