Is cost killing print?

You might have missed it for a couple of reasons. You may not be a Planet Money (NPR) groupie or you may have been busy with your holiday festivities. Whatever the reason, you may want to go to the Planet Money blog and listen to their The Price of Bias podcast.

Cost is a pivotal disruptor.

Planet Money presents issues covered in a veneer of simplicity that ultimately lead down the proverbial rabbit hole in search of the root causes. In true Planet Money fashion, this episode explores how newspapers have gained independence and shed bias over the centuries. Matthew Gentzkow, a University of Chicago economist, digs up a lesson from 19th century print craftsmen that still bears relevance for today's printers - cost is a pivotal disruptor.

Are today's near zero cost distribution platforms killing print because of its associative cost burdens (equipment, labor, etc.)? Shout back in the comments.

photo by: hellochris

Comments

[Michael Josefowicz]

Yes and no. Cost drives creative destruction. No doubt. But it is also the spur of innovation and new uses for mature technologies.

As is often the case various technologies that have gestated for years come into new combinations that unlock the value that has been previously ignored. In fact, when Print was invented in the west it went through a very similar process.

The cost of manuscripts for students at the Sorbonne was very high. When printed Bibles were brought to Paris, they were decried as the work of the devil. No one could sell them at this ridicuously low price.

Here we go again. XML has now matured to the point that going from XML to PDF to Print is commonplace. That means that all the content on the web can be output in Print.

The recent deal between Xerox and Espresso is just the tip of the iceberg. Espresso is PDF optimized, But in Berlin Oce, I believe, is the infrastructure for pediapress. Pediapress has been delivering printed book version of wikipedia articles. That means someone has the scalable tech to go from XML to PDF and then to print.

Consider the Open Source content struggling for a mass audience. Blogs, wiki's, nings, tweets and on and on.

No doubt from the any particular enterprise the stresses created look like the "end of the world" and the "end of Print." But the survivors have already emerged and more important the new business models and innovative mash ups of the technology are already out there. As soon as they become more visible, new methods and business models scale.

Again the growth of print in the 1500's is something to learn from. Guttenberg went broke. But within 50 years there was a "tipping point" with copy cats all over Europe.

[Ryan McAbee]

"But it is also the spur of innovation and new uses for mature technologies." Absolutely. The irony, as you pointed out, is the innovation can often be detrimental to the innovators and established Titans.

[Michael Josefowicz]

I never forget that Gutenberg died broke.But his son in law did very well. And Ben Franklin,my hero. Wasn't really a tech innvator. Rather an awesome entreprenuer. I think that's what's going to emerge as the winners.

The greatest innovations of America have always been business models, not technology.

[SH]

Print will/has suffer(ed). However, there is a transition taking place.
The important observation is to see the whole picture, view the wide scope of change.

How can print and technology benefit each other NOW. Then, how to move forward into the inevitable evolution of the media vehicle.

We shouldn't harbor anxiety over what might vanish. We should embrace what's on the horizon.

What method of information dissemination existed before print. How efficient was that?

What method of info dissemination will replace it?

[Ryan McAbee]

@ SH
"We should embrace what's on the horizon."

Absolutely! I think there are many exciting changes and, more importantly, opportunities within printing. It is also easy to lose sight of the fact that the print economy was ~88 BILLION dollars last year.

Most media that existed before print still exist today although the medium usually evolves. You do not see an 8 Trac any longer, but you still listen to music.

Thanks for adding to the conversation!