writing » the death of print?

Shred or be shredded

By Gordon MacLeod —(May 1995)

We cast for answers among Internet newsgroups whose participants' livelihoods hang in the balance, and finds a cautiously optimistic prognosis for the near future.

Is print losing the battle, pica to pixel, against the Internet and CDROM?

With E-zines on the Web, encyclopaedias on disk, and all the news that's fit to print available digitally on Usenet, the business of disseminating textual and graphical information is undergoing a metamorphosis. It's not surprising, then, that publishers, prepress pros and designers, whose world till now revolved around paper, are engaging in public soul-searching in the pages of magazines and on panels at industry conferences.

I decided to take another approach. Instead of rounding up the usual suspects to play the pundits, Electronic Link ventured on a more democratic search for answers by posting the question “Is Print Dying?” on Usenet, the 18 year old collection of 10,000 plus electronic discussion groups, and it's young graphical, hyper-linked sister, the World Wide Web. I targeted newsgroups catering to individuals likely to have an acute interest in the answer (see list below), whose presence online suggests an appreciation of the expanding communications universe.

So what's the outcome of the electronic referendum? You've told me that reports of print's death are premature. They are also accurate, alarmist and nonsensical. If one sentiment bridges the wide ranging opinions, it's a general affection for the printed page (particularly as applied to bathroom reading) despite the regrettable cost to our tall leafy friends. Most respondents seem to have been pondering the subject for some time, though a few sounded genuinely startled at the question.

I received more than 80 responses from around the world to my posts (which were adapted to each newsgroups focus), and more are still trickling in. Some were E-mailed directly to me. Others were posted for all to see, and in several cases the thread got away from me and started a life of it's own with sober evaluation, rants, flames, and all the other methods of Usenet discussion breathing life into the fledging concept. Due to the space limitations (darned print!), we can only publish a small sample, edited for clarity and length, but if you have an opinion of your own to share please E-mail it in and we'll include you in the debate.

Newsgroups that were canvassed

From the May 1995 issue of Electronic Link magazine

writing » the death of print?

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