I've
been reading a newsletter entitled The Digital Nirvana for a few
years now, more than occasionally to see what combination of
e-something or another with the printing process has the writers
worked into a frantic lather.
And
one of the first and most basic options offered by wiring a Mac to a
Heidelberg press was variable information printing for direct
marketers: ie. junk mail pretending to be something else.
Now,
I've got about five years in the print industry before I discovered
book printing, and I appreciate that there are some pedestrian ways
to make a buck with a press. And printing books is the apex of the
print industry as far as I'm concerned.
So
getting misty-eyed about getting the latest personalized AmEx credit
card deal stuffed into a million mailboxes doesn't happen to give me
a warm fuzzy feeling. Still, I can appreciate that some printer got
paid for printing something that I may not open, surely won't read.
and that's destined for either my industrial strength shredder or the
shopping bag for paper recycling by my desk.
And
in spite of all the great advice proffered in The Digital Nirvana
(here,
here
and here
for example), when personalization doesn't work quite right, the
results can be funny...and depressing. And the point isn't lost on
them as they point
out the consequences of personalized flubs on the internet and
bemoan the goofs
of direct mail when it lands in their mailbox.
I
remember getting a personalized flyer from HP back in 2004 or so at
the Baker Johnson, Inc. shop promoting the variable data
(personalization) opportunities of their new press. Except it was
addressed to Johnson Baker, Inc., totally muffing two of the three
words in the business name. Nice shot but you missed the backboard.
It
happened again a couple of years later when I got a letter addressed
to Merican Perspective, Ltd.
That
just seemed an obvious typo at the time, a misspelling of American
Perspective, Ltd., the company that I use for occasional publishing.
Except
it wasn't a typo the way I think of a typo, a correctable error. Over
the years the flow of mail to Merican Perspctive Ltd.has grown and
grown. Here are 3 examples from the past two weeks.
This
“typo” is so ingrained in the shroud of big data that when I was
on a government web site this past spring, four business names were
displayed with the question, “Do you now or have you ever had a
business relationship with any of these companies?” And there it
was, Merican Perspective Ltd.
What
was the right answer? The digital cognoscenti would have you believe
that since mail to Merican Perspective, Ltd. has been delivered to my
address for at least ten years, there clearly is a business
relationship. But since I know that Merican Perspective, Ltd doesn't
even exist, is there a correct answer? (And why the hell doesn't the
US Government know that there's no such company?)
I
logged off and dialed the 800 number.
Flat
Rate Priority Mail Rates Rise and Fall
While
Flat Rate Priority Mail pricing
will increase for you on September 7, your company will actually
get a reduction in its Priority rates.
Big
5 vs. Amazon
Started
to compete with Oyster and Scribd, Amazon's Kindle Unlimited
all-you-can-read ebook service has showcased the split between the
Big 5 publishers and Amazon. The list of available titles is huge but
offers no ebooks from the Big 5. Amazon
must disdain PR departments because it comes off as either a jerk
or a bully these days.
Don't
Pay for Kindle Unlimited
Sure,
for around $120 per year you can download dozens of books you'll
never read at Kindle Unlimited. Or you could do
the same for free.
Charges
Threatened Against RR Donnelly
International
printer RR Donnelly declared its subsidiary in Argentina bankrupt
when union contract talks broke off. Now the Argentine government
is threatening RRD with criminal terrorist charges.
Typos
of the Rich and Famous
I
understand the chagrin you've experienced when a typo in the book you
so carefully proofread and edited was found. Cheer up, you're
in great company.
Printer's
Row No Longer a Row
The
area around Printer's Row has hosted many a Chicago Book Festival
(now Printer's
Row Lit Fest). But tough times for printers has whittled their
numbers down to one
surviving printer on Printer's Row, Palmer Printing.
Newspaper
Publishes After Earthquake
Didn't
you love those old movies where newspaper reporters used every trick
possible to “break the story first”. In that same indefatigable
spirit, the Napa Valley Register published its evening edition
the same day its 50 ton press was relocated a few inches by the
Napa Valley earthquake.
Are
Your eBooks in Your Will?
A
court in Delaware has ruled that the possessions of the deceased
which can be legitimately passed on to the heirs includes all
forms of digital accounts or devices. So glad that's settled!
Curation
Questions
The
Eaton Collection at UC Riverside houses the finest collection of
science fiction and fantasy titles anywhere, with works dating back
500 years. Some faculty charge that new
administrators are tampering with the very policies that led to the
Collection's leadership role among writers and readers (such as
abandoning physical books for e-editions).
Funny
Money
A
subjective gauge of an economy's health can be as simple as observing
how consumers spend their money. When the rich treat it like Monopoly
money there's usually trouble on the horizon. A
$3.2 million comic book may portend some storms ahead. (As does
the $38M
recently spent at auction for a Ferrari 250 GT.)
$77M
Counterfeit Ring Busted
A
15 year Secret Service investigation paid off when a
sophisticated counterfeiting operation with bases in Israel and New
Jersey was seized and the principles arrested. (that's 770,000
$100 bills.)
Design
News
The
Belgian Postal Department wanted to commemorate International Women's
Day with a stamp. The design
features 606 words of text from The Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Final
Thought
Books
are delightful society. If you go into a room and find it full of
books — even without taking them from the shelves they seem to
speak to you, to bid you welcome. ~William
Ewart Gladstone
