c eS
2

LoINION

Knowlton Knows
A revolution may be Iurking

The world of traditional print publishing is nearing fatal collapse. But will it fall for good or rise a new beast? Part one of two.

     

Knowlton Thomas

 

 

14

early two millennia ago, the
N= printing system was

invented. It was slow, fragile,
and largely ineffective but humans
understood the almighty importance
of print.

Printing was a necessary
invention. People wanted to reduce
the cost and difficulty and reproducing
multiple copies of documents. Printing
was a concept that could streamline
the process of communication and
trigger a significant enhancement in
the development of key aspects of
human life such as commerce, law,
and even religion and culture.

As the process of printing
developed through the centuries,
it steadily improved. The process
became faster, cheaper, and capable
of working harder to create and
reproduce more documents. But who,
even just one century ago, would have
ever imagined a technology would
arrive with infinite capability? Such
prowess could never exist amongst
the clumsy devices and gadgets used
prior, but the internet and the age of
digital reproduction has changed two
millennia of work in two decades.

Print publishing has continued to
become more efficient but it has never
been inexpensive. Producing several
thousand copies of multi-hundred
page books is no simple task—every
single book costs money to produce
and adds to the net cost of the run. So
what if there was a way to publish any
amount of books of any size for one
low, flat initial rate? Perhaps even for
free? And what if you could adjust the
font size of the text, and the zoom of
the images, instantly and infinitely? It
would have last century’s typewriting
loyalists turning in their graves with
disbelief. And it’s becoming common
practice.

Ebooks are revolutionizing
the publishing industry. They’ re
extremely cheap to create and more
affordable to consumers, not to
mention they boast adjustable zoom
and you can fit up to one thousand
books into a single eBook reader
(such as Amazon’s Kindle device).
This phenomenon is on a rapid rise

to fame and success. Amazon’s top
“wish list” item for Christmas 2009
was their new-to-Canada Kindle, a
handy gadget that stores and displays
all sorts of books and newspapers.

It closely replicates the print item’s
original format to maintain that
traditional, authentic feel. And one
can purchase eBooks from the internet
(for substantially less then their
cumbersome print counterparts) and
have them automatically download
onto your e-reading device without
wires or set-up.

What does this digital
streamlining mean for the classic gig
of leather-bound stacks of paper?

It could spell the end of the print
publishing industry, and sooner than
later, but not as one may think.

According to an in-depth analysis
of the industry’s situation, an article
in China Business Feature suggests
that printing companies will cease
to exist, not because the demand for
them erases completely, but because
the demand for them as a third party
service erases. Thus, Li Peng, Indigo
Business Development Manager at
HP, suggests that adaptive publishing
companies will merge into and
integrate with major manufacturing
businesses to simplify the process
that extends to the company awaiting
the final product. So one step in the
process is eliminated, along with
traditional publishing houses, but
print’s reign lives on.

For now.

With the exponential rate of
technological growth, Li Peng
argues that there is an “inevitable
disappearance of the print industry,”
and few attempt to counter this grim
prediction. For those who enjoy to
snuggle up in their worn leather chairs
and read printed books instead of a
digital screen, cherish your twenty-
pound copies of War and Peace,
and make the most of your Ikea
bookshelves. But don’t cry a river
when you unwrap an Amazon Kindle
next Christmas —screens are just as
susceptible to water damage as ink
and paper and a lot more expensive.