Even those of us “of a certain age” and even here on Manitoulin Island must marvel at the tremendous impact the Internet has had on all of us, in one way or another, in its short 25 year history.
That’s right: the Internet officially celebrated 25 years last Wednesday, March 12. Somehow, it seems as if it’s been around longer.
Of course, for the current generation of young people who are just now beginning their working lives, it has been with them “forever” and so it will be, in one form or another, for all generations to come.
The industry of which this newspaper is a part provides a prime example of radical change over a short time.
For example, reporters can (and do) use the Internet for research on stories they’re writing. Pre-Internet use, this same task would have been accomplished by calling experts and, usually, waiting for them to call back. Now, most of this is quickly accomplished by a combination of researching Internet sources and email communication with the current generation of experts.
Not too many years ago, the paper was laid out mechanically, page by page (and by hand). All material was produced in paper columns and fastened to layout sheets (the same size as the printed pages were to be). The finished, hand laid out pages where then shipped by A.J. Bus (remember that mode of transportation?) to Espanola where the box of flats (one for each page) would be transferred, as freight, onto an eastbound Greyhound bus and so would eventually arrive in Sudbury where a runner from the print shop would pick up the box at the bus station, bring it back to their shop where the pages would be laboriously photographed and, through the giant negatives, printing plates would then be burned/etched and these would eventually go on the press to print the paper.
Now, the layout is done digitally, not manually, and the finished digital product is shipped via Internet directly to the printer. (No more missed buses.)
It’s even more simple at the printer’s end because the digital files created at the Expositor Office now skip the cumbersome business of creating full-size negatives and the paper goes directly from our files to the printing plate. Full colour pages are, in the scheme of things, now a relative dream because in the pre-digital days, three full sets of negatives would have to be created (plus one for black) as the colour was “separated” into cyan, magenta and yellow negatives that, when overlaid, would recreate the original colour.
The digital Internet revolution has certainly spared a lot of plastic in the print industry!
In the production and commercial printing side of the business, the Internet has meant ads and print jobs can be digitally created and proofs quickly sent via email and the Internet for approval.
We have a quickly expanding base of subscribers who choose to receive the paper digitally via the Internet and the Expositor’s website, www.manitoulin.ca, is an active online news and advertising source that had 350,000 unique visitors in 2013, with a certainty of more this year based on the first quarter trending.
Many of our bills are sent and received digitally, and likewise many payments go in and out digitally as well and, for national advertisers, the Internet has been a boon as their advertising material can be shipped for printing in the paper on a just-in-time basis, allowing advertising agencies to make competitive changes at the eleventh hour.
This is still a labour-intensive business so all of this new ease of communication has certainly not meant any less staff.
But it has allowed staff to do their work more quickly and efficiently.
And The Expositor Office and the Manitoulin West Recorder are just a tiny part of a giant industry, worldwide. Multiply the changes we’ve put in place here times the millions and millions of businesses that have employed the Internet, of necessity, and in one form or another, to provide a better service and you will have some idea of the enormous amount of change that has taken place in a single generation, far outstripping the rapidity of any social and industrial changes any previous time in history.
Happy 25th, Internet. You’re here to stay and you’ve certainly streamlined our industry, our particular business and the world in general.
