print media – a petter idea

Print your own 3D objects

petter — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:53:21 +0000

An amazing look into the future when we can print any object at home. It will even be possible to print human organs for transplantation. I would say that this is a realistic view of the “Beam me up, Scotty” concept.
The first hobby machine being made available is called Printrbot:

Make it easy to find good reading

petter — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:40:59 +0000

When in Madrid, I spotted a library for modern commuting people. I wonder if anything like this may be found in other city metros? Maybe there is one in Stockholm, even though I’ve never seen that…

iPad and Kindle Reading Speeds

petter — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 22:16:35 +0000

In one of his WhatTheyThink Videos, Frank Romano alerted me on an interesting study on the usability of eBooks. The original article was from Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, July 2, 2010. It was a fairly small study comprising only 24 people. Each person was tried on four reading conditions: a printed book, a PC, an iPad, and a Kindle 2.

The text was a short story by Ernest Hemingway, which according to Frank is easy to read, because it’s all simple sentences, virtually no semicolons, no em-dashes, it is basic writing. The result was that reading the e-book version was slightly slower than reading the print. Both the iPad and the Kindle rated as high in terms of satisfaction as the printed book. But the test persons were not happy with the PC — reading a PC felt like being at work. The conclusion is that well-designed eBook readers provide as good a reading environment as the printed book. With the strong development of tablets, there is obviously a strong future for eBooks. This future is maybe already here, since Amazon recently reported that Kindle books are outselling printed books.

The printed book may still be preferred on the beach

Print is Eternal – or…

petter — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:12:53 +0000

The following is the first few lines in a hilarious discussion between more or less extinct media types.

Moderator: Welcome to Obsolete Anonymous! I’ve gathered you all here to welcome our latest member, the Print Industry.
Print Industry: Hello, everyone. But there’s been a mistake. I don’t belong here.
(chuckles all around)
Print Industry: I’m serious. I’m not obsolete. I’m relevant. Print books have been around for hundreds of years. They’re never going to be replaced.
VHS Tapes: Yeah, we all thought like that once.
LP Records: It’s called denial. It’s tough to deal with at first.

You can read the full text at A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing. Thanks to Patrick Henry at the Print CEO blog for the alert.

Victory of “Dead-Tree” Communication

petter — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:55:55 +0000

According to a recent report in Knowledge@Wharton, marketing in print is so much more effective than in digital media. Actually, it is the print that drives the traffic to the web sites! The findings were supported by several comments to the article.

The report was also referred to in the Print CEO Blog, again with a supportive comment about the positive effect of combining blogging and print advertising.

Digital media are overrated!

petter — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:21:53 +0000

An IT researcher at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology (HIIT) told me that the digital media as web and e-mail are overrated. Paper and print ar often superior. But we are lacking (simple) tools to create printed products (user-generated print media). Unfortunately, there is no actor that takes this really seriously. The digital media industry just don’t get it with paper media. The paper industry has as always its focus on the large paper mills, with hundreds of thousands of tonnes that are “allocated” to different markets. The graphic industry is fully occupied with becoming certified printers according to the ISO 12647 standard.

Who will take the first step?

Read Risto Sarvas post here:
The industry must show both consumers and businesses that paper is often far superior to digital alternatives. Finally, the industry must accept new design and business perspectives such as human-centric design and user-generated content.