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Saturday, June 07, 2008

Ballmer Says Print is Dead

Don’t tell the print publishers just yet…

I was a print publishing executive for nearly 20 years.  When the dot.com boom hit, many cried that print is dead.  It wasn’t.  It’s now a dead man walking and I for one, agree with Ballmer.

Not only can you get your information far faster, deeper and at 60 frames per second online, you also are saving the planet.  Seriously saving the planet.  Beside ink, paper, shipping, etc, it’s crazy how many magazines are wasted every month.  For newsstand publications, if you sell at 50%, you are doing very well.  Now think of magazines like Time, NewsWeek, Playboy, Sports Illustrated and how many copies they sell on a weekly or monthly basis.  Not only are the magazines that sell going to eventually end up in the landfill, likely more than 100% more are thrown out having never even been read.

Having run some great print magazines like DV, Studio Monthly, Film & Video, CableWorld, etc, I’m much happier working on PVC and preparing the launch of several sister online sites.  Print isn’t dead yet, but it very possibly is a dead man walking.

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Print may be dead, but please don’t confuse using less paper with saving the planet.  Paper’s a renewable, easily recycled resource.  Trees re-grow; you can help them by composting and mulching all those copies of Newsweek.  On the other hand, making computers requires huge energy input, with the consequence of emissions and pollutants left over.  Apple, for instance, has one of the worst environmental records for a business model of making gadgets that get thrown away after a few years.  Meanwhile, forests once sustainably managed by paper companies now run the risk of being sold and converted into subdivisions, as reported in the August 2007 Nature Conservancy magazine.  So the accounting is not as clear-cut as you indicate.

Posted by  on  06/09  at  12:57 PM

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