A lot have change on print media with the appearance of digital technologies. Print media continue being challenge by digital technologies day by day, especially by the internet. Percentage of device owners have increased and consumers are spending more time, also prefer reading online media than reading newspapers and magazines. More and more bookstores are closing and selling books at a very low price. That is because the internet is a place where there are endless supply of information and mostly for free, not only that, with only a press of a button, we can find exactly what we are looking for. In addition, mostly everything you get in print is always available online in one form or the other. It is a really strong competition, however even though print media is on decline, I believe it will not disappear anytime soon.
There are still people seek for tangible copy of a book because there are still generation who are "digital immigrants". Including me, the people who are born in the 90's, we had to "immigrate" to this new digital land and learn how to use it. We embrace new forms of technology, however sometimes we miss the feeling to flip through a book or the smell of it. Moreover, sometimes we want to have a copy either to collect in order to represent our interest or to have the aesthetically pleasing ones since no matter how far we take our technology, we still appreciate design. Nonetheless, there will be a point where tangible books will be sell lesser as they are expensive and it is much less expensive to download books on tablet or e-reader but not disappear as they are always a need for printed books.
Digital technology actually supports print technology, for example back then graphic designer used to send files through transferring it on a CD or floppy disk to the printing company. However, nowadays everything can be send easily through internet via e-mail. Technology help in providing shortcuts. Printing was still viable because of the rapid technological changes in graphic design. Step by step, digital was making things more accurate and faster, as well as saving time and money. Furthermore, there are already exciting developments for the of the printing world, by using augmented reality (AR). It has been used for many years now but recently, it came to Malaysia, where Pos Malaysia made a 'Hari Raya' postcard. So, when the postcard is scan into an app, it turns from a two-dimensional image into three dimensions in real time. Instead of digital technology replacing printing media, it enhanced it.
Internet being an advantage for cheap and easy source of information still can create problem. Everything on the internet can be downloaded and easily altered by outside parties, and confidentiality can be violated. Since, internet allows anyone anywhere to publish anything everywhere and public increasingly relies upon digital internet content for "knowledge", it can create many people to have the urge to be a troll to spread false information. Thus, sometimes having some information printed and not in digital form is not a bad idea.
As much as people used to have free information, there will always a segment of people who like to have things in printed format and people who value solid and reliable information. Plus, of course, we can put to use all those cool digital tools to make more outstanding print media. All in all, print media will constantly change but evidence shows that it is still very strong and it is here to stay. I believe that it will endure in now our emerging digital world.
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