The Future of Print Debated

MediaPost reports on conference held yesterday at the Time Life Building by Fortune and Sappi Fine Paper North America. While Fortune Senior Editor Geoff Colvin kicked off the meeting trying to prove print is still relevant by handing out software for Microsoft's book reader - which came with it's own printed manual, panelists were clear that change is on the way. Pulling out the usual ammunition (TV didn't displace radio), Sandy Alexander Commercial Printing President Roy Grossman said, "Print is not going to be displaced." Well of course it isn't because he would be without a job.

Hachette Publishing President and CEO Jack Kliger says the industry is wasting too much time competing against itself and not enough time promoting print as a medium. And a Starcom study was trotted out which found one third of those in a study, when asked to clip out the defining part of their reading experience, selected ad pages.