Love him or leaf him… you cant deny the Mr. D. Eadward Tree is passionate about the subjects he tackles over at Dead Tree Edition. The topic of Print & Digital magazines isnt new, but Mr. Tree has put his own unique spin on it that resulted in an interesting blog post I excerpted below as well as an article in Publishing Executive titled “The View From the Tree : 34 Tricks Print Mags Can Do That Apps Can’t.”
I am particularly honored to have been mentioned in the article, as well as the contributions of my Print Production Professionals LinkedIn Group who helped supply some of the 34 tricks. In all fairness, Mary Beth Smith‘s Girls Who Print Group supplied some great information as well that I did pass along to Mr. Tree via email.
With the news of Encyclopedia Brittanica going digital and ending its printed version after 244 years, Mr. Tree’s post and article are particularly timely and well wroth the read.
Printed Magazines or Digital Magazines: Do We Have To Choose?
by D. Eadward Tree
Which are better, printed magazines or digital magazines? I’ve heard some passionate arguments on both sides of the question.
For those of us in the publishing industry, there’s only one correct response: Its a stupid question.
The real issue for us: What does the customer want and what is she willing to pay for?
With apologies to my friends in the printing and paper industries, publishers are not in the business of creating printed products. We’re in the business of informing, entertaining, and advertising; the medium is just the means to an end.
Fellow print lovers, it’s time to stop pretending that electronic publications aren’t real magazines or that print is always superior to digital.
The healthiest approach is to drop the either/or thinking and recognize that printed magazines are a niche medium. A niche product cannot be all things to all people, but it can do some things for some people that no other product can do.
Continues at: Dead Tree Edition: Printed Magazines or Digital Magazines: Do We Have To Choose?.
