Blogging for Print - "The Printed Blog"

Has Blogging come full circle or is this one last gasp of air before print media sinks into the depths of oblivion...

A new site described as "...the best of the Web on your Newsstand..." - what the heck is a "Newsstand"? has popped up from heart of Silicon Valley.

From the site:

"Blog Driven Publishing is Born!

The Printed Blog is the world's first daily newspaper comprised entirely of blogs and other user generated content.

The result is a revolutionary newspaper that reads and functions like a web feed - yet can still be enjoyed on the train or spread across the breakfast table, for an uninterrupted, pleasurably tactile experience..."

The phrase, "...pleasurably tactile experience..." intrigues.

It is my opinion that this one issue, "touching", is the primary reason we humans read books and newspapers - this primal process involves and evokes human touch. After all, reading is just story telling in our head - and story telling is the third most primal, human characteristic in existence.




As the number of players in the newspaper industry continues to dwindle, blame placed squarely at the feet of those "citizen journalists",news aggregators and Google, can it be possible that the newspaper of the future will be a collection of blogs, articles and tweets printed on recycled paper, twice a day?

"The ghost of Gutenberg has returned to live in San Francisco, only to die laughing. I repeat, old is new. Prepare to meet thy past." - Simon Jenkins, here.

Xerox - No Surprises - Earnings Below Expectations, Blames the Yen...

Sales of printers and other hardware plunged 15 percent as companies cut technology budgets. Customers are cutting orders and distributors are reducing inventory, Mulcahy said.

Late last year Xerox announced a restructuring plan that included about 3,000 job cuts, aimed at saving $200 million in 2009.

Revenue fell 10 percent to $4.37 billion.

Revenue from sales of supplies and services -- known as "post-sale" revenue -- fell 8 percent to $3.1 billion. Equipment sale revenue declined 15 percent to $1.3 billion, reflecting "weakened economic conditions around the world," Xerox said.

"In the fourth quarter, the continued weakening economy and rapid shift in exchange rates put pressure on the business," said Anne Mulcahy, chairman and chief executive officer. "Despite this challenging marketplace, we delivered $265 million in adjusted net income for the quarter and $985 million for the year."

"We continue to prioritize cash and productivity to give us flexibility in this uncertain environment," she added. "Our fourth-quarter restructuring will deliver $200 million in savings this year. And, last year we generated $1.7 billion in adjusted cash from core operations. We believe our strong balance sheet and disciplined approach to cost reductions strengthen our ability to effectively manage through these tough economic times."

The movement of the Yen, in just the last six weeks of the year, effected the reduction in margins - the movement was so quick, that the traditional action of pricing increase could not keep up. This dynamic resulted in 50% of the 10% downshift in margin.

Xerox MIF up 4% in December and an increase in color pages could not overcome negatively "currency" issues which sliced into revenues .

During 2008, Xerox Global Services generated $3.5 billion in annuity revenue, a 3 percent increase over 2007.

Full statement here. (PDF)
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Summary

All in all, Xerox took hits due to global economic forces. Activity was only down compared to historical data - actual new color pages printed increase 18%(compared to an increase of 25% last year).

Also, shrinking orders from distribution, effected overall performance, although MIF increased by 4%.

And because, like all copier models, new agreements equate repeatable revenues/cash flow, etc, the big X is doing fine.

We should all be worried when Xerox starts to report a increase in defaulted agreements - meaning their customers are going out of business.

More Screens, More Productivity - How About This?

Jim Lyons mentioned how employee productivity increases if they use dual screens, as much as 44%. I wonder how much productivity would increase with this?

 

Check this:

Minority Report - Who Needs Paper?