Today's Technology and Ben Franklin

How would Ben Franklin react to the new technology available today? Would he be on Face Book or Twitter? Would he be Linked In or have his own blog? As a printer by trade, he would be watching a lot of his customers gravitate to online communications and buying less printing. That could be disconcerting. After all, putting words on paper with ink is how Ben Franklin made his living.

But my guess is that Ben would be among the first to embrace the new technology. As a scientist and inventor, he would immediately grasp the tremendous benefit of this new form of media. He would experiment with it and find ways to make it more useful or efficient. That’s what he did with the wood burning stove, and with street lights, chimney flues, and other technologies of his time. I can picture him, in front of a computer monitor, mulling over in his mind all of the ways he could take advantage of the new media, a resolute expression on his face, like the day he flew the kite in a thunderstorm. No, Ben Franklin would never be one to lag behind the technology of his time.

As an experienced printer, however, Ben would also be keenly aware of the tremendous value of his own trade. The printed word has always been, and still is, an extremely powerful tool. Ben would not give it up. He would use the electronic media to boost the value of what he put into print – and vice versa. He would immediately recognize the different impacts a message can have if it is on paper or in cyber space. And the Declaration of Independence? For sure, it would be on paper.

The Role of the Printer

"If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed." Ben Franklin

In Ben Franklin's time, the printer was usually the publisher and often the writer of what he printed. It would be only natural to have some concern for the reception his printed material would receive. Today's printers would rarely share that concern. There is a lot more distance between the creator of the document and the pressman who puts it on paper. Business or political leaders may come up with a message, but it goes through several stages of the creative process, like marketing people, ad writers, and designers, before it reaches the person we call the printer. And even then, the first stop within the print shop is a graphic technician, not the "printer." Franklin was intimately involved with every step of many of the documents his shop produced. Today's printer does not even read what he is producing.

This is not entirely a bad thing; productivity is certainly far greater today than in the 1700's. But something can be lost when the printer is kept out of the loop. The printer knows the capabilities and limitations of his equipment. He knows how different inks will perform on different kinds of paper. And he knows how different processes, like foil stamping, laminating, coating, die cutting, folding, etc. will effect the final product. If his shop includes mailing services like many do today, he can probably also advise on postal requirements and reduce costs if the printed piece is designed to be mailed. There is something else: An experienced printer has seen a lot of great marketing ideas and programs. He is a wealth of information and ideas about what has worked and why. A good printer should be brought in early in the process as part of the creative team.