SHANGHAI – From HP’s perspective at its Global Influencer Summit in Shanghai, it seems that a world without print of any kind would be a lifeless, colourless existence devoid of any livable character, and while there is anecdotal evidence supporting that, it’s still not clear what this all means for the average consumer.
To quantify this in a methodical way, HP asked an unknown number of customers in the U.S., Singapore and India to be guinea pigs by living without any form of print for two days, no matter where they go or what they do. The process involved removing all forms of print in the home and workplace, meaning literally everything from photos, labels, packaging and even clothing with prints on them. They were then asked to record their experiences over the two-day “deprivation period”.
Slide after slide in the presentation noted the pitfalls of life without any print at all. What would it be like to shop without any printed labels, or would the lack of a visual aid cause havoc with people who were convinced that a product wasn’t the same, even when only the label was taken off?
To illustrate this further, HP went to a small town in Wisconsin called Spring Green and had all its residents take part in a print deprivation program for one week. Entire neighbourhoods and shopping centres had all printed materials removed. No one could read books, newspapers or magazines. Restaurant menus were written down, medicine bottles were labeled my black marker and no printed ads or signs. But naturally, electronics weren’t banned, so notebooks, tablets, eReaders and smartphones were fair game. Some of those interviewed lamented the lack of print, admitting that they took it for granted, while others found it hard to work collaboratively without having something tangible to brainstorm from.
All of this made for an interesting view of social constructs within the framework of familiarity, but the death of print, which has been predicted for the better part of a decade, was largely focused on sources of information and imagery for personal consumption rather than on a wider communal or commercial scale. Suggesting that consumers equated printing fewer documents or photos with an erosion of printed labels and other visual differentiators at a commercial level seemed a bit like grasping at straws.
The world of printing has changed dramatically, precisely because it’s no longer an inherent need, but more a complementary tool that sits idly by until called upon. For some people, that may take weeks or months. For others, it may be a daily occurrence based on any number of factors — a home-based business and children are two that come to mind.
In the presentation, HP suggested that younger children and teens were the most resistant to losing print because it was an “anchor” for them. While digital is ever-changing with constant real-time updates, print is a reliable anchor in time, like a timepiece, so to speak.
One of the focal points HP tried to communicate was that print was more ubiquitous than perhaps some realize. The point about anchors is indeed true, because signs, labels and documents are a form of order and differentiation in an open market.
But what does that mean for printing at home? How close are we to being able to print onto clothing, vehicles or entire walls in a home by using home-based printing tools? How about printing do-it-yourself skins for the mobile devices we always use? If printed materials are a part of a home’s identity, as the presentation asserted, then shouldn’t the wider message be more about what is actually being printed and why, rather than when or how?
The world will have print for a long time to come, simply because it is a reliable and energy-efficient way of doing certain things, and for the familiarity it enables in a market-based economy. But purely recreational printing in the home is undoubtedly declining because there’s less of a need to print, but that doesn’t mean that consumers don’t want to.
What they’ll be printing next is the part of the story missing in HP’s messaging at the event, and the company’s desire to keep print relevant will demand that they have something to say sooner than later.
