Thad McIlroy - The Future of Publishing

1. "CEO perspectives: Viewpoints of CEOs in the forest, paper & packaging industry worldwide"

Although published in 2006, this PriceWarterhouseCoopers' publication remains topical and "summarises the thoughts of 17 CEOs in the forest, paper & packaging sectors around the global on key issues facing the industry. The thoughts of the CEOs, from North America, South America, Europe, Russia, China, India and South Africa, are drawn from face-to-face and telephone interviews by PricewaterhouseCoopers between February and May 2006. Interview topics included general economics, global competition, emerging markets, mergers and acquisitions, sustainability, strategy and supply chain." The 2008 edition (there was no 2007 edition) is available here.

2. "Pushing Paper Out the Door"

I've made the argument for nearly a decade that people will become decreasingly inclined to print to paper from their computers. There are two reasons for this. First is that today's large LCD displays are much easier to read from than the CRTs of old. Don't you find it less stressful on your eyes to spend 6 or 8 hours on the computer than you did a decade ago? And they keep getting better. Second is that the nature of the way we read is changing, and we now skim more articles than we read word-for-word. Sure there will still be some long PDF that you'd rather read while sitting in the La-Z-Boy, drink in hand, comfortably perusing the entire piece. But I would argue that it is becoming more the exception than the rule. This light New York Times article examines the Uhlik family, who "live a practically paper-free life."

3. "Today's Paper Outlook: How Will It Shape Your Usage and Buying Strategies?"

A good summary article (published November 2007 in Book Business magazine) by Eugene Swartz on where the paper industry is headed, particularly as it applies to book publishers.

4. "Xerox Unveils First-Of-Its-Kind Paper That Uses Less Trees While Saving Customers Money"

From a July, 2007 press release from Xerox: "Aligning business innovation with environmental responsibility, Xerox Corporation today unveiled a first-of-its-kind paper for digital printing that uses half as many trees as traditional paper, while lowering the cost to mail printed material." It apparently became available on August 1, 2007.