Technology & Print

It is amazing how some technologies take a while to bloom. Take the Facsimile, or Fax for short, it was invented in 1846 by the Scottish inventor Alexander Bain. The Electric Printing Telegraph went through several improvements by various inventors as the telefax machine, the Pantelegraph, a scanning photo telegraph, and the Telautograph. It wasn’t until 1924 scientists from AT&T using a new process of transmitting pictures by electricity using the phone that faxing began to become popular. In 1948 Western Union brought out the compact desktop Deskfax fax machine allowing easier faxing accessibility to everyone and to more distribution locations.

More compact and feature enhanced fax machines began to emerge in the late ’70s and faxing flourished as a form of communicating used by almost everyone through till the turn of the century. Since the introduction of the World Wide Web and e-mail in the 80’s faxing has been slowly fading into the background. It became much easier and more convenient to email someone than to fax them, and with the cell phone explosion, it is now even easier to send text messages.

Print, created by Chinese monks in the mid-800s, is going much the same way as with faxing, with the newer technologies rising above and forcing out the old. We have seen this happen with vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, and even their content of music, photos, movies, and information. Everything is becoming digital and if you can’t keep up, you’re out.

In order to revive printed media, WebStamp is bringing it into the digital age by making print a gateway to the World Wide Web using another technology that lurks in the background; square bar codes called QR Codes that can be scanned with many electronic mobile devices of today. The printed publication has QR codes all over it, in the articles, content, and even the advertising has it, allowing our readers to easily connect with additional information on the web. The digital version of this printed publication is also accessed with a QR code so you can read it at any time at your convenience with your cell phone or tablet.

Social Media is another growing digital phenomenon that has infiltrated the digital world. WebStamp is envisioning a Social Media Network for Calgarians where they can communicate and participate in everything Calgary has to offer. This will be the go-to place where Calgarians can discover all the exciting things happening locally in their communities. Coming soon we will have a blog and chatrooms for all to voice their opinions and see other points of view about Calgary. Interactive communication and extended articles and information can now be accessed quickly with your cell phone using the printed page.