I've been thinking about this a lot lately. With the growing popularity of eBooks, eTablets, and getting information via the Web and now our mobile phones, many question, "Why do we even need print?"

We know that teens and "twenty-somethings" never look at the printed edition of the newspaper. While I'm definitely not "twenty-something," I have always embraced technology and am an early adopter of all of the latest digital devices and toys. I love my Kindle for travel, can't wait to own an iPad (when it has a camera in the next version), and I spend countless hours online. I love all of these things, but nothing replaces the experience of flipping through the pages of a book or scanning through my favorite magazines and the morning newspaper.

Here's what I find irreplaceable...

When reading books on a Kindle, how do you quickly get back to a specific page?  I’m surprised by how often I want to go back to something I’ve read earlier and it is darned tough to find what it is that I’m looking for again. This is particularly frustrating with self-help, instructional books with reference sections I want to get back to. Not easy. When I read the newspaper or a magazine, I begin by scanning through the pages looking for articles and stories I may be interested in learning more about. I don’t know what that might be until I see it. The new digital platforms limit my visibility and take away the pleasurable experience of merely scanning what’s in that issue.  Filters and personalization may give me a wealth of options related to specific topics I follow regularly, but what about new topics that I may be interested in that I never get exposed to?  I’d really miss the “big picture” view I get from print as I take in an entire page. And, then for me, there is something about ink on paper (OK, maybe now I’m showing my age), but as much as I love technology, the experience is not the same, nor is my enjoyment of accessing the content from my favorite magazines and newspapers.

The good news is we have more options than ever before. I completely “get it” when I read about consumers wanting whatever content they desire, wherever they are and on whatever device they have available. And with new technologies bringing the digital world to print, magazines and newspapers can finally combine the best of both worlds – bringing the interactive, multi-sensory experiences we love on the web to the printed page. Choice is a good thing, and I believe that print will continue to be one of those choices.

Digimarc recognizes the ongoing importance of the printed word (or photo) and that's why we're invested with developing products and services that enhance the offline reading experience.