創業者ブログ

The printing business in anguish
(Dec.28,2006)

A few days ago, I found an opinion advertising in a national newspaper. It made a complaint about that, unlike the other industries, the printing business has not yet climbed out of a recession. It is not in these days when the period of their suffering started. They had undergone through various changes; from the typographical printing to the offset printing, from the offset printing to the DTP. Now, printing machines are used not exclusively by professional printers. It is owned even by general consumers. Furthermore, the age of paper might be now nearing an end. The age of electric data seems to have come.

Yesterday, a publicity agent visited me and advised me to publish a new product brochure. I thought he was taking about a brochure made of paper. However, I was wrong. What was in his mind was a DVD. According to him, the fabrication cost to make the DVD-based brochure is not more expensive than that to make the paper-based one. He also stressed that the moving images were much more impressing to customers than the still images. This event reminds me of the anguish of the printing industry.

Sometimes I am asked to deliver a talk. In this case, I prepare a typewritten copy of the talk for me and the brief of the material to be covered during the talk. However, I have noticed that I am in the minority; I have heard that many lecturers prefer to make their presentations in Power Point. I believe that it is more convenient for audience to provide hardcopy of the brief because they might want to carry it home and keep it. However, the other lecturers are not looking at it that way.

The decline of the age of paper is growing evident after the popularization of the Internet. Consumers can compare various products from various producers on the Internet. The hardcopy of product brochures seem to be out of date. This must give the printing industry more pains.

I should draw a lesson from the decline of the printing industry. I should make best effort to stay up-to-date.

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