Augmented Reality: Keeping Print Relevant

“There exist limitless opportunities in every industry. Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier.”  --Charles F. Kettering, American engineer, inventor of the electric starter

I'm old.

So it goes without saying that I am a little slow to catch onto new things.

I thought I was keeping up with technology. In a short while I have attempted to learn social media, delved into understanding digital printing, embraced blogging, acknowledged that there are things like PURL's and Variable data, heck I finally just figured out QR codes.

And then comes.... augmented reality. Huh?

I'm fairly certain I do not fully understand this concept yet, but I did a little preliminary research and I have to say the application is ....cool beans. Check out this link that was most helpful to me in understanding the concept.

Why does it seem that my mind keeps getting blown away by the advancements becoming available to us in the not so distant future?

Don't say it, I know what you are thinking... because I'm old. But being old does not mean I can't have an open mind.

So, thank you Print Media Centr for opening my eyes to the latest and greatest new technology available for companies to incorporate into their printed materials to make them both relevant and current. And for use in other printed applications as well. Places like text books, t-shirts, movie posters, and oh my, the list might just be endless.

Please check out this post from Print Media Centr, which gives examples of  how augmented reality is currently being used in print campaigns. And be sure to follow along to the conclusion of the article Deb Corn references from the Marsid M & M Group Blog. They also share a ton of useful information and examples.

I'm not sure who said this first, but I personally love it: Print is not Dying, it’s Evolving!

Amen to that. ---Terri

Do You Believe In The Power of Print?

I ran across this article and video. Thought they were worth sharing. How awesome to see industry leaders working together to promote the power of print!

For the past year, The Print Council has attracted more than 900 media and marketing decision makers across the country to its Print Delivers seminar series. The purpose is for industry leaders to work together to raise awareness about the effectiveness and advantages of print.

Featured below is a video recap of the latest Print Delivers presentation held in Chicago on November 2, 2010. Full article available at:  http://printinthemix.rit.edu/fastfacts/show/396

Where Did My Print Button Go and When Can I Get It Back?

In my new endeavor for CMP I have become addicted to searching the internet for social media tips and have become somewhat of an information junkie. There is so much information out there. I'm great at mining the information, but there is no way I have time to fully read or even being to retain all the great stuff I find. Which for me means... I need a hard copy to refer to.

No problem, just print them, right? Wait....Where in the world did my print button go?

Back in the "old" days of internet research there was always a button at the beginning or the end of an article that said "print" this article now. I know this because I have two teenage boys, both had many research papers, essays and class projects due over the high school years and I was always their chief researcher.

Go ahead ask me about osmosis, the Greek Gods, Buckingham Palace or Leonardo DaVinci.

Since I am one of those learners who doesn't retain a lot of information on the first reading, I like to refer to my text over and over again to really grasp it. Unfortunately, I am less adept at going back to find an article on the internet to re read it.

Have you ever clicked on a link here, then clicked again and finally found the right thing, but had no idea at what site you ended up?

That's me....almost every day. So where did that print button option go? No, I don't want to blog, Twitter, Facebook or Subscribe to this article, I want to PRINT it.

Is this someone's misguided thought that by not offering a print button we will save more trees, save landfill space or be greener? I hope not. Because unless you want to get my rant going, do not tell me that by not printing something we are saving trees.  I know better.

I need my print button back. Who took it anyway? And, no I do not want to highlight, paste, copy, move and format my articles to a word document and then print. I just want to print....

Give it back! Please.....