Is Offset Print Dead

Tucks and rolls

Rick, Unfortunately, I agree with you and the sad thing is that many of the established baby boomers don’t want to hear this message. The younger, Y generates see this future clearly. They communicate virtually and what will happen when the next generation takes control of business. Now is the time to develop a virtual network of contacts to survive in a digital, virtual world.

Offset printing ain’t dead. But alot of offset printers are going to disappear or reform. It’s the General Motors problem.

When you grow in a protected environment, you tend over grow. Too much capacity, too many brands. America meanwhile is over stored, with too much stuff. When the environment changes, everything changes. .

Offset is about packaging and long runs.
What’s disappearing is advertising as we’ve known it. As long as we focus on advertising it looks like the pond is draining. Once we turn away from advertising, lots of growing markets in education, health and government.

I wrote a short economic analysis of press versus e-marekting on my blog.

http://davidhowse.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/the-end-of-print-or-not/

Let me know what you think.

David

David,
You are missing two issues:
1. While using print for advertising, as we’ve known it, is decreasing very quickly, using Print for hyperlocal advertising is working well and will expand not decrease.

2. The larger opportunities for Print is not in advertising, it is in fixing education, health and government.

The longer story is at my blog..http://sellingprint.blogspot.com/2009/03/newspaper-solution-is-emerging-from.html

Hi Michael,

Education will be dominated by the Web in the next 2-5 years. Schools (comp. sci. and new media programs) are gearing up for the demand in online education and design skills (those who will create the sites/apps/template software).

Hi David,
Thanks for the clear opinion. And to keep the spirited debate going . . .

For the benefit of visitors here, I responded to David at my blog. The short story is that, with all due respect, I think David is 100% wrong. I see K-12 education as a huge new opportunity for digital printing.

here’s the link, if you want the longer story.
http://sellingprint.blogspot.com/2009/03/newspaper-solution-is-emerging-from.html

Many companies make lower end laser printers, even all-in-one units that can scan, print, copy and some even are fax machines as well. Models from HP, Lexmark, Samsung and Brother come to mind with some around the $150 mark starting (around here). There are even color lasers available in some areas for under $300 so nice color printing for low initial investment.

Offset printing never dies.

Your right, Della. But the point that I was trying to make is that offset, as we knew it, no longer exists. Print is being used more selectively. Certain categories of print will go the way of the buggy whips. Yes, some will still make them, but not many will be able to make a living on them.

I think some examples are directories and checks. There is no doubt that both corporations and individuals are changing the way they use print. How many emails vs. cards did you get during the holidays? I would wager (and some of you know that I could be a betting man) that the emails vastly outnumbered the cards sent through the mail.

Thanks for taking the time and it is good to know that there are still many out there that value print.

Consider that the going forward value for printers is in the network. W2P is evolving into a printernet. Lighting Source did 20million titles last year. Average run length: Under 2.

Consolidated has a network of about 70 shops, standardized on Indigos. The work they did for Nat Geo just hints at what’s possible.

Consider: a standards based network of digital printers could mean 50,000,000 Print pieces overnight to local delivery at a minimal carbon footprint. Offset or digital as the job is appropriate.

If Honda, or President Obama could harness such a network, why wouldn’t they. The only real disadvantage of Print as a medium was to slow and not enough scale. W2P has no matured enough so that various printernets are starting to form.

Really nice comments. Useful.

offset has a huge market overall the world. its quality and cheapness is the most important thing.