Prints are dying, Digital is taking over.
Out of context: Reply #49
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- gramme0
People have always—and will continue—to need outlets for unwinding. Reading on a computer is a tense experience, regardless of one's age. It isn't very relaxing. The iPad has semi-successfully bridged the gap between digital and print, but there's still room for the printed piece in a world gone slick. And even retina displays can't match the crisp legibility of a 175+ line screen on good paper.
I've said it here before and I'll say it again: print as a throw-away commodity will continue to wane, as it should. But print as a lower-quantity luxury will stay, I believe. The tactile object will seem particularly novel as people continue to spend more and more time in front of screens. See the proliferation of Blurb and other web-based publishing businesses.
And then I think there will always be value in printed stationery. Everyone who's serious about their work needs a nice snappy business card; and nothing in the world of correspondence is more memorable than a hand-written thank-you note, delivered of course on well-designed and well-printed stationery.