Print Still Matters, but not like it did…
Even with the demise of newspapers, with more people reading screens, don’t forget: Print still matters.
It can last – - – Forever…
Why? Permanence. When it’s on paper – it could theoretically last forever. What was the main page yesterday on your favorite on line information site? Remember it? Are the ideas still in your brain, perhaps, but it would be a different deal if there was a picture of your little leaguer making a play on the field and photographed. A bit of honor and athletic props for little junior. If you are keeping anything for a long period of time, the record of that event is on paper, weather you make a low quality print from the web, a clip of the newspaper. To make it forever – it will need to go to paper.
And to make it big and cheap – paper is the solution, the cognitive impact of an 9 x 7 image when it’s in your face is much more powerful than a 600 x 400 pixel image on screen.
What content do you want to keep?
The kind of content that really matters to us in the long term needs to be on paper. These paper documents; our Critical Content, are the Historic, Legal, and Emotional documents that serve as markers of our lives. Family photographs, deeds for houses, birth certificates, holiday greeting cards made substantive by their meaning and importance.
The printed family photos are the ones saved during the fire, now we grab the laptop too.
Print a Web Page? Really?
Why would someone want to print something from the web? The web is capable of delivering acceptable documents for printing of course- but printing directly from the web is like driving from New York to Chicago via Florida. You won’t find many images that are ‘acceptable’ for framing. A good version may be available, a printed piece you purchase. Because you want to save it and look at it, make it real, physical and not stored ‘somewhere ‘ on your computer.
Let Print do what Print does best
Make something Permanent, Real and maybe Big a sharp break in the transitory nature of screen delivery.
Remember also: no digital publication can wrap fish.
Quick Fear
This statue peers from a backyard near the Lehigh Valley Trail. When I first saw it, a bit of fear appeared in my reptile brain.
What was in these barrels?
Whenever I see barrels like these in some woods (even woods close to buildings) I wonder- who dumped and what was in them? In a Northeastern industrial rust town, I’m guessing it could have been anything from DDT to something maybe even radioactive!
Caterpillar II, Monarch
This Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar was found last August, late in the year and would probably begin migration South quickly after metamorphosis.
Green Caterpillar
From 35mm Film!First off, I do not like the contrast of this image, it was shot on 35mm film and commercially processed as a .jpg to Photo-Cd. An adequate scan and image for most 35mm hanger ons these days.
I have no idea what kind of caterpillar this is, but it did make for a good subject with my [WARNING Camera Geek talk] 50mm flat field Macro.
Standards Ho!
I never used a standard that didn’t change, errr…almost.
Companies change Standards to suit their own ends, but companies also create proprietary Standards in desire of dominance, interoperability, convergence and cash.
We have seen the Standards of media delivery change, news from print to web, music from store to web via Apple, Hollywood DVD rental at the store to living room screens via internet.
For most- the only real standard shift recently has been from standard DVD to Blu-ray. With HD-DVD being the most recent victim of the format and standard wars. (At least in the U.S. for a while?). (Unless you’re using over the air broadcast TV and you need to finally switch to broadcast DTV).
Ultimately a standard is enforced by market share and the cost of changing from one standard to another by the consumer. The device may gain attention with early adopters, but ultimately it’s quality and cost make it desirable by the mass market, leading to market dominance of a device or product, that may lead to de facto standardization.
Of course, the journey to market dominance is the big tuna – huh?
The standard now for music mp3 player is the ipod of course, any other device is a poor comparison. Are their other devices available that work better? Who knows, and who cares…
Getting information from electronic sources web, TV, radio, we live with very few _ required _Standards. I could get some web on a 10 year old computer, I could see cable or satellite or broadcast TV on a 50 year old TV, I could get an a.m. radio signal on a hundred year old crystal set radio.
The dominance of Standards, often stealthily may lead to a loss of innovation, security / personal data, and disregard towards the end user / consumer some companies practice. Predators and viruses around the biggest water holes.
The operating system, the phone, the mp3 player box thingy, the digital camera _model _ the devices and processes we use hopefully integrate with whatever standard is important to us… the Standards that predominate in your world.
One of the most dominant Standards: AA Batteries – can you imagine if they went away? It would be great for the environment – but how many devices would become useless?
I want mp3’s in my car, phone, cd player, and TeeVee.
Our cell phones and connected mobile devices do exhibit differentiation of Standards, with a few companies competing for dominance. The competition by company x to change the ‘official’ standard of information storage and distribution, system, or process is not so much driven by what Standards are but how they provide seamlessness between our interconnected devices.
There is One Guarantee
As our high tech devices, distribution channels and systems evolve one thing is guaranteed – - obsolescence. I have a digital camera in excellent shape, it was worth… Here’s a 40,000 $ (MSLP) camera….
Rock Stack – ‘Voltron?’
This Rock Stack lives at Tryon, built by hikers and used by birds, tricky balancing that may shift due to wind or snow. Looks like a robot to me…
