To the point: the comforting tenacity of the dead

This call usually caused only a few people to panic, and no serious resuscitation attempts were made (because they were seriously necessary). The patient nevertheless continued to breathe, albeit with a rattling sound.

In 1995, American designer David Carson prophesied "The End of Print" - in the form of a book. Anyone who doesn't notice the irony and wink here (albeit unintentionally) must simply be blind. Here, the medium itself refuted the message it was supposed to sell.

With the introduction of the first smartphone in 2007, the Internet became mobile and people always had the latest news with them - print was once again declared dead. And once again it was not.

In the meantime, letters are no longer written but emailed, books are no longer put on the shelf after reading but deleted, meetings with friends are no longer arranged in advance but discussed at short notice by cell phone. And print still rattles along in its niche. Alive. So some sick people just need longer to die? - Not quite.

At the trend conference for trade and special media held by the Swiss Media Association, print was suddenly back with rosy cheeks, more alive than ever! Print is the new digital first. To be sure, it was all about a look into the future. The durability of print products and their sustainability were invoked. The adherence to print was celebrated without question; a new magazine, printed, was excellent. Online presence? Later. Maybe.
And all around, too, a host of new magazines are currently appearing: Chandra Kurt is bringing a new wine magazine to life, and Ringier is launching the art and culture guide Monopol Zürich. Printed, not (only) online. Remarkable.

Well, it's clear that no one at this year's Trend Conference announced their patent remedy for making money on the Internet. Because no one has one at the moment. And anyone who did would not reveal it before the donkey spits gold. Nevertheless, people are daring to admit again that print is something beautiful, that they believe in it. And that doesn't mean you're considered a hopelessly outdated backwoodsman. That's great progress and certainly the right "trend.

I don't want to "Back to the past", with this attitude you won't make it into the future. But something "Reclaim to the present" would not be bad - to think back to established and still current values, to what has lasted a long time and still works. There's "reflect" in "reclaim to the present," and that's what all of us need who have been rushing after every trendy twitch of the digital in recent years, in panic fear of irretrievably missing an express train that has already started.
It seems to me that print is a bit like fashion: plaid is out - plaid is back in. Minis are cool - minis are ordinary - what, you don't have a mini? Woman of the world wears hats - hats are silly. Hair is for monkeys - men wear beards again. Print is in again right now, perhaps because we're at a loss online. But I see the return as more than a fashion: print is sensual; that's something digital will never give us. Every once in a while, many of us feel the need to take something printed in our hands and immerse ourselves in it. To smell a printed piece, to feel paper. That's why we'll never let go of print.

And yet we need them all: digital for speed, TV for images, print for depth. In connection with the terrorist attacks in Paris, all media have demonstrated their very own power: On online media, Twitter and Facebook, the world learned just seconds after the first detonations that Paris was under a state of emergency. A short time later, it became clear why we talk about social media: People were looking for their relatives on Twitter and Facebook, offering shelter and further help. In parallel, television very quickly provided the first blurred images of the attacks as well as still images that gave an impression of the terrorists' atrocities. Later in the evening, the first reports and debates on the background to the attacks were broadcast. Finally, the weekend belonged to the newspapers: On Saturday and Sunday, all European papers from the tabloids to top journalism worked up the horror; by the findings of a few hours smarter and therefore more well-founded than had been possible on the Internet and television on Friday evening. That's exactly how it has to be.

And now be amazed: the online scheduler Doodle recently launched its own book, for the first time in the company's history. And sales of vinyl records generated more revenue for British record labels last year than 14 billion music streams on YouTube, says Geoff Taylor, head of the British music industry association BPI. Well, I'll be.

Anne-Friederike Heinrich, Editor in Chief
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