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January 6, 1997
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Page: TMN
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International Printing Week
Just a reminder that the 1998 celebrations for International Printing Week, January 11-17, will be occurring all over North America this month. The theme for the 54th observance is: Expanding the Envelope: New Frontiers in Print.
This writer would like to expound on that theme for a moment.
The intrepid souls who pioneered advancements in modern airplane technology were known as jet jockeys. Sometimes as the result of their own zeal for adventure and sometimes under orders to test known boundaries, they would 'stretch the envelope.'
The concepts of stretching the envelope and possessing a pioneering spirit have not always been trademarks of the printing trade. The books our forebears produced were often hidebound and sometimes so were the traditions of the craft. It is said that not much changed in the five centuries after Gutenberg. But the torrent of change in the past five years has been undeniable.
The envelope is expanding and there are new frontiers to be explored.
Scary to be sure, but exciting, and filled with the wonder of discovery.
And there are brave new opportunities in them thar hills. Read the Cairncross book for some signposts along the way.
Recall again the blurb we first pointed out to you in the December 16 edition of Tuesday Morning News, a blurb that will re-appear in the newest issue of Know More Notes, which will be digitally encoded and uploaded to CraftNet tomorrow. (look under member services at www.iaphc.org):
"The shift to digital text and image processing, digital work flow from input to printing all the way to converting, and the merge of electronics with mechanical engineering into mechatronics have all heralded a new era in print and paper products manufacturing.....Here visions of 'decentralized printing,' 'printing on demand' and 'personalization' are rooted in attainable systems and processes. And here, every printer can take another step towards status as media service provider." From the advertising brochure for drupa 2000.
Now dear reader, read that blurb again and ask yourself how many words and phrases contained therein would have seemed utterly foreign to you a mere five years ago!
Stretch the envelope! Go ahead, the envelope of our future isn't a window shade, it won't slap you on the rebound.
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