The PrintShop
In the mid 80’s it seemed like the second most used program for the
Apple II was Broderbund’s The PrintShop, right after that pirated
copy of AppleWorks. For the first time, users could create posters,
cards, etc. all with fancy fonts and clip arts. As word processors and
page layout tools became more and more commonplace, the final product to
be shared was an 8 1/2″ x 11″ (or A4 :-)) sized sheet of paper.
The world is going mobile
The signs are all around us that the personal computer as we know it is
dying, to replaced with mobile technologies. Whenever I do PD,
especially with iOS devices or other portable devices, I tell the
participants that in 5 years everyone will be using portable devices
instead of computers. Unfortunately, this doesn’t go over very well. The
most common concern is how will they word process. After thinking about
it, I realized what was wrong with this question. In the future you will
not be creating content that the final product will be the printed page.
You, or your students, will be creating content that will be consumed on
other mobile devices. The concept of the printed page is dying.