Opinion

Does e-paper represent a threat to printing businesses?

Opinion by

As e-paper use is predicted to be widespread in five years' time, we ask what impact it will have

Ian McDonaldNEWSPAPER PRINTER
Ian Macdonald, formerly of News International
I think the two are linked: one will spin off the other. In newspapers, the real issue is where you will make money with e-papers. I think it will be tied into the main newspaper though. It will require joined-up thinking and will come forward in the next few years. I actually have an e-book and I thought it would be much clunkier than it is. The page turning is as quick as a normal book and you can go on holiday with 100 books, it is great for travelling. At the moment, e-books are quite expensive, on top of the initial outlay, but they will come down. For the time being, they will work alongside traditional books.

Kevin SarneyBOOK PRINTER
Kevin Sarney, managing director, Butler, Tanner & Dennis
It's something that we will have to address - especially in the book sector - by responding to the needs of the market. It is possible that we could be producing less print in the years to come and we have to respond to changing circumstances by offering different services. Being able to digitise books as well as print them is one such way to address this. Away from books, sectors such as reports and accounts could also be affected with increased used of e-paper. None of us can turn a blind eye to the situation because if you don't embrace these changes then someone else will.

Tony ChardBOOK PRINTER
Tony Chard, managing director, MPG Books Group
Like any new technology, it will have an attrition rate, but I doubt very much it will lead to the death of the printed word in five years' time. As with all of these technologies, the question is ‘who will use it and what will the standard be?' What are consumers going to do? Are they going to have e-paper and a Kindle and an iPod and an iPhone etc. That's just not viable. So, yes, they'll co-exist. You have to ask, ‘what is the dominant technology' and I think in the academic world, the Kindle will certainly have an effect, whereas for trade books, I think it could be as simple as the iPhone, with a slightly bigger screen perhaps.

Lance HillTRANSACTIONAL PRINTER
Lance Hill, managing director, Transcom 4DM
I think they can co-exist and I certainly think it will take longer than five years for any significant impact to be felt. The internet had an impact on newspapers, but not to the extent that some people predicted and now they co-exist. In the transaction and billing market, there's a very similar thing, because in 10 years time, when the next generation of young adults arrives, they're probably not going to want to have a bill through the door. They're going to want to have everything on mobile phone or via the internet. But the older generation will still tend to favour paper, so the two will co-exist, and the one will never fully disappear.