Top 10 reasons why you never have to order printing again

10) People don’t really pay attention to printed information anymore.

9) Anyone can find your web site by just googling the right words.

8) Facebook is better than a printed newsletter.

7) Spam filters couldn’t possibly block your emails.

6) Your training manuals are easy to read online.

5) People are happy to download your data and print it themselves.

4) No one would ever delete your email without opening it first.

3) People don’t pick up printed brochures anymore.

2) Business cards or letterhead printed on your desktop ink-jet are professional enough.

1) Everything there is to know about your product is already on your website... somewhere.

More:

All of your customers will follow your tweets.

Nothing on the web could distract someone away from reading an online item.

An emailed “Thank You” is just as good as a personal note.

"Print is absolutely, positively, the most intimate way to connect with a market."
Mark Potter, Publisher, Canvas Magazine, June 2009

"What gunpowder did for war, the printing press has done for the mind."
Wendell Phillips (1811-1884)

I am not sure that this is an entirely positive comment about the printing press, considering the carnage of the civil war. But it is interesting that a 19th century American credits the printing press with revolutionizing human thought in a manner similar to the way gunpowder revolutionized warfare. Unquestionably, the printing press brought education to the masses, something that was not possible before Gutenberg. Having education available to anyone who could read was in turn instrumental in the birth of democracy in the American colonies. The colonists were avid readers of newspapers, books, and circulars of all kinds. They were not distracted by television or radio, so printed material was recreational as well as functional. Politics became a common topic of conversation and eventually the colonies united against King George. The Declaration of Independence received widespread circulation both as a "broadside," or flyer, and in the newspapers of its day.

If the printing press eventually led to a broader educated public, where does the internet lead? My first inclination is to say that it leads to a more "savvy" public if not a better educated public. The internet reveals secrets more readily than any other media because it allows for audience participation on a grand scale. If your auto mechanic, or insurance company does you wrong, you can readily tell everyone your story. If your government cracks down on your peaceful demonstration, you can be certain that the entire world will know about it. At the same time, however, the avalanche of information we now receive is not necessarily accurate or free of bias. We are forced to make judgments about what is reliable and what is not. We have more information and more opportunities to connect with like minded people, but what will be the eventual outcome? A more cohesive world with people banning together for the common good? Or fragmentation into tribes of self interest in continual conflict with each other?