Discussion Point 5- Jaye Valery

New technologies and global networks are rapidly transforming publishing models and typographic practices. Does this mean the end of print? Why/Why not? Provide evidence/examples to support your views.

The decline of print media has been well documented and debated for the better part of the past decade. In Robert 

Kaisers letter to the “Washington Post’s” newly appointed editor Donald Graham in 1992, he accurately predicted an “explosion in computer power, growth of multimedia and a shift of readers to the web” more than 20 years ago. The 7 page letter is a really interesting read, as it explores an individual looking at the past perspective of this debate who wrote his missive before the internet as we now know it, even existed. His letter demonstrates is just how much harder it can be to predict the future of business and culture than the future of technology. I believe the print Industry is not likely to disappear altogether; the rising number of companies abandoning print for digital and online publishing is taking a significant toll on the print publishing industry.

Kaiser states, “"I am not here dreaming of, or worrying about a world in which computers have displaced the printed word, and us too. I could find no one at this conference that would predict the demise of the newspaper. No one. All saw an important place for us." I believe that the essence of printed media holds tactility that we as humans are drawn too. A computer screen cannot replace the touch, smell and satisfaction of flipping swiftly through a magazine. Snuggling up in front of a fire with an IPad just doesn’t work as well as a old classic novel and a glass of red wine does! 

For me, perhaps the question now is what the apparently accelerated migration from print to digital might mean to everything from the publishing industry and consumers to the government and education?

Reference-

Jordan Weissmann is an associate editor at The Atlantic. He has written for a number of publications, including The Washington Post and The National Law Journal. The Atlantic, http://www.theatlantic.com/