BREAKING NEWS: In a shocking story, UK newspaper the Independent is predicting that the Internet will bring about the end of printing. The author with his amazing foresight was quoted as saying, “In Silicon Valley, the printing business is down 40 percent in the past 24 months…record numbers of printers are failing, being sold, or merging…print is dead. Well, it kind of is, anyway.” In this unprecedented turn of events, this Brit noticed that radio, movies and television were unable to uproot printing, but with his amazing powers of deduction sees that the internet will be different.

With England being a geographic neighbor to Silicon Valley (NOT!), the author was able to grasp the pulse of the printing industry, through the high tech center of the universe. He predicts that Valleyites will replace business cards, stationary and brochures with PDAs and email signatures. From the newspaper’s London address, he notices that the record high cost of printing materials are causing people in Silicon Valley to be pushed to publish materials in other ways. He even elaborates that banks are reluctant to make loans on printing presses, all because of the Internet.

Breaking news?  Not so fast.  The article referenced above was written in November, 1999!

Believe it or not,  this story is real and there are others like it.  In hindsight it is easy to say this article is wrong, but the fact remains that this type of thought has been happening for over a decade, only to be proven wrong time and again.

Contrary to predictions of doom and gloom, printing has continued to grow and evolve with the Internet. In 1999 the Internet had 100 million users and has skyrocketed to 1.8 billion users today. The printing industry and direct marketers around the world have watched the explosion of technology, and we’ve adjusted right along with it.

Business cards, stationary and brochures continue to be essential for everyday business; and sorry to say but the PDA has long been laid to rest. Marketers are becoming more targeted and strategic with their dollars and are making use of variable data, short print runs and the many other new doors that have been opened through technological advances and digital printing. Print is, today more than ever, an integrated partner – not opponent – of web and social media. We have continued to buy new high tech equipment, even moving into a brand new larger facility. And as far as Silicon Valley – we receive printed direct mail pieces from Google and Yahoo! regularly.

This reporter may have not been able to predict the end of the printing industry, but we will. It’s not going anywhere. And that prediction is based in fact and history, not hype and hysteria. Yes we had a little fun with this story, but after 24 years of operation, we have heard all of the predictions and proved them wrong. I think it’s safe to say printing will be with us for a long time.