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Sunday, September 14, 2014

Toner For Tablets - March, 2012 "The New #iPad Will Kill Printed Documents"

Originally posted, March 4, 2012

"One of the iPad's biggest competitors has been paper," said Nick Bilton, a tech columnist at The New York Times, "and now this is better than paper."

So many books and so little printing-

I was somewhat dismayed to learn Britannica is no longer going to print its encyclopedia.

I was a bit vexed when I read that printed,  pulp-erotica isn't as hot as it once was.

My confusion cleared upon discovering the hottest thing on  E*Readers is ladies' romance/erotica - women and their dirty little Nook's. This makes perfect sense; nobody can tell what you're reading while sucking a caramel macchiato, head down on a Kindle.  Poor Fabio.

Even Conde Nest is moving out of print and into the online subscription business.


The hype over the new iPad didn't match reality - it rarely does.  This iteration includes some basic upgrades: a faster network, a better processor, and a higher resolution screen.  It's like the late '80s, and early 90's when the new PCs came out with faster processors, more memory, smaller footprints, and better displays.



"It's The Display, Stupid" - 

Within the personal computing hardware ecosystem, there are three basic user interfaces;

The Keyboard/Mouse - input
The Display - output
The Printer - output

A tablet offers all three interfaces, both input, and output within a single surface - the display.

Critics were quick to point out that the Retina display's resolution of 2084x1536 is indistinguishable from the human eye, and overkill.

On the contrary, my estimation is the resolution could be as a high color glossy print.  I don't visualize the atoms of color on paper but my eyes won't burn after staring out the window for hours.  Not that I do that.  It's nice to know that a back-lit screen with such a high resolution won't damage my eyes.

Jen and I just purchased a special edition of Time Magazine because of the high-quality print and excellent photographs.  And we'll continue to purchase, 'boutique' printed artifacts - print won't die completely.

But the iPad display will make the everyday document easier on the eyes and widen the user experience.

Invoices, graphs, newspapers, order forms, books, videos, and even financial statements will all be easier on the eyes.

Consider three basic reasons for print:

Marks on Paper is portable
Marks on Paper is cheap
Marks on Paper is easily available

The iPad is not 'cheap' - $899.00 but it is very portable.

When we translate $899.00 into printed output costs, that number could represent 17,980 printed, color images.(@ 0.050/image)

For one month.

I view at least 10,000 page views a month on the internet - each one is in color.  The sites I find of interest, I keep in an ever-expanding list of 'favorites'. Almost every document I need to review or send is converted into a. PDF and sent or saved on Box.net or in DropBox.

"For the first time, type looks as good on a screen as it does on paper."

My documents are stored and accessible from any point on the globe as they are not stashed in a filing cabinet.  More importantly, my information is not tethered to the nearest printer - no more follow-me, pin, or pull printing.

The Retina Display is not the solitary reason for the demise of print.  The way we work is changing and IT departments across the country are responding.

A new study, reveals that of companies planning to purchase tablets, 84% will buy iPads.

That's 8 out of 10.  Apple figures it will deliver 14-15 million new iPads in the first 90 days after release.

With tablets becoming ubiquitous, print/imaging as a staple will go away.  This will not take long.  The shift will be in high gear matching our transforming work behavior as well.

We will be more remote, more individualized, and more powerful.  Paper and print will never end completely.  Their value will increase as the mundane, transactional prints are transported into digital, off the page onto a screen.

The Apple machine keeps growing and churning, minimizing everything that is not part of its ecosystem.

Finally, after 1,900 years, there is a device that competes with paper, enhancing the document by moving off the paper and onto a screen, without degradation.

Original post here.

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