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Were we sleeping or just too busy Googling our life away?…

In the third article of a series, industry expert and WhatTheyThink contributor David Zwang continues his discussion about cross-media communications with some thoughts on how we got where we are and where we are going. This is important background that will help enable print providers and marketing services providers to stay ahead of the curve.

Monday, August 16, 2010

In their recent book, Disrupting the Future, Dr. Joe Webb and Richard Romano, discuss the following premise: "The past is the story of the way the future has been disrupted by technology and innovation... We, ourselves, must learn to disrupt the future with our own innovation." Put another way, change is inevitable and you can either lead, follow, or get out of the way...

Since the mid 90's we have been watching the Internet grow at what we perceived as a very fast rate. The following chart shows you just how fast the adoption has been.

And considering that the developing world went from about 10% adoption to over 60% in about 10 years, that is pretty impressive. Sure, we all know by now that the Internet and the communication technologies and processes that it has spawned have significantly changed the way we live our lives and do our business.


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About David Zwang

David Zwang travels around the globe helping companies increase their productivity, margins and market reach. He specializes in production optimization, strategic business planning, market analysis, and related services to companies in the vertical media communications market. Clients have included printers, manufacturers, retailers, publishers, premedia and US Government agencies. He can be reached at [email protected].

Recent Articles from David Zwang

Canon: Continued Production Inkjet Development and Growth

Canon: Continued Production Inkjet Development and Growth

With more than 2,000 ColorStream units delivered worldwide, Canon has introduced the new 7000 series for mid-range production. To say that Canon has been broadening their portfolio of production printers is probably an understatement. There are new developments in the ProStream platform and the new iV7 B2+ cut sheet press is about to hit the street. Read More

Kodak Keeps on Growing!

Kodak Keeps on Growing!

Coming out of three consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth, Kodak has been delivering on their promise to rebuild and transform the company. In this Business Update video, David Zwang talks with Jim Continenza, Eastman Kodak Chairman and CEO. Read More

The Start-Up Chronicles: dappas—Next Level E-Commerce Packaging Intelligence

The Start-Up Chronicles: dappas—Next Level E-Commerce Packaging Intelligence

The ultimate goal of dappas is to help facilitate design and eliminate the entire prepress production, so all the converters who are working with them get a stream of work that is ready to go to press and converting. Read More

Labels and the Connected Supply Chain

Labels and the Connected Supply Chain

You can think of this very competitive connected supply chain landscape in four layers: material suppliers, label converters/printers, hardware OEMs, and software/platform players. The connected supply chain has changed from moving things hand-to-hand or through email to more full-featured automated systems. The good news is that, as a converter, after you decide where you would like to start, there are so many options for you to select from. Read More

Direct-to-Object: Challenging Labels and Tags or Offering New Opportunities?

Direct-to-Object: Challenging Labels and Tags or Offering New Opportunities?

Print is a very adaptive technology and direct-to-object (DTO) is another area where it can offer new opportunities for PSPs and product manufacturers. Today, most of the product and packaging decoration (i.e., labels and tags) that exists is handled by a label converter. It is a well-established process that probably won’t disappear. However, it can and will be challenged by inline DTO printing solutions, offering new opportunities. Read More

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