Printing and Copying in the 21st Century, pt. 1

Printing and Copying in the 21st Century - Part 1

A different kind of climate change...

Anybody with even a modest understanding of the print and copy industries should be well aware that the climate has changed dramatically in the last decade, washing thousands of mom-and-pop businesses out to sea and leaving countless others to claw at the sand for dear life.

Why is this happening? Why is it that printing, an industry that has been on a steady rise since Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type printing in the 15th century, is suddenly suffering? Obviously the Internet, which bombards us with millions of gigabytes of information without asking for a single piece of paper in return, has played its part. But there are other players in this Darwinian battle of the industries which must not be brushed off lightly.

For one thing, the cost of machines has gotten progressively cheaper -- so much that many companies who need regular copying done have invested in in their own copiers rather than pay the outrageous prices toted by companies like FedEx Kinko's. Meanwhile, companies like Docucopies.com have carved out a new market by marketing their services over the Internet, focusing largely on businesses that need big copy and binding jobs. As for the printing industry, many small-scale operations can't keep up with the progression of digital imaging, which is often able to replicate the quality of offset printing presses at a fraction of the cost and setup time.

With such a glum forecast, how can any small- to medium-sized business in the industry hope to survive the next decade in what promises to be an even more cut-throat marketplace?

Keep reading posts in this blog to learn some tips about how to survive in the Brave New World of copying and printing.

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