Why the stationery industry is surviving in the face of rapidly developing technology
Earlier in the summer I laid out my plan for this blog on my laptop – a few notes typed on screen, ideas to develop about the benefits (or curse?) of technology, and how would poor old paper survive in the overwhelming shadow of technology. I saved these thoughts to a document, and carried on about my day, enjoying the rare sunshine that had been bestowed upon us.
The same day, after a visit to the gym, a faulty water bottle lid lead to me hurriedly submerging my soaked iphone 6 into a bowl of long grain wild rice (tonight’s curry will have to wait), and nervously ‘Googling’ “how to fix a wet iphone.’ A Facebook post later, about ten friends advised me the rice trick is indeed the way to go, presuming I am not in possession of a boatload full of those little silica bags you get when you buy new shoes (I was not).
Once my heart-rate had returned to near-normal and the expletives had trailed off, I sat and thought about how on earth I was going to do the everyday things I needed to do, without my trusty always-in-my-palm iphone. I needed to book a train to London (where would I save the reference number to collect my ticket?) I was going on holiday the following week so needed my phone for the constant Instagram uploads and smug Facebook status updates (surely it’s not a holiday otherwise), and I needed to call someone back who had left me a voice mail (where will I retrieve their number from now?) And I was sure I had entered various calendar appointments to remind me to do things, like go to the gym, pack and go on holiday. I started to make online enquiries about buying a cheap new phone, and fast.
The beauty of an un-opened notebook
As a Stationery Buyer, I am lucky enough to own a pretty extensive collection of notebooks, so I marched upstairs, grabbed one out of my drawer along with a pen, and sat down to make a list. My handwriting, a pretty illegible scrawl these days through under-use, I gathered my thoughts. The creak of the previously un-opened notebook, the smoothing down of the first page, went unnoticed by me as I frowned at the trauma of this morning’s event.
The irony of my newly defunct iphone didn’t escape me, remembering (without a prompt) that one of my ‘to do’ points was to write this blog about how and why the paper industry is surviving in the face of rapidly developing technology. We live in an age that has seen technology progress at its most rapid rate ever. Some of the poorest people in the world have mobile phones, children take exams on computers, and it’s pretty standard these days for people to suffer back or neck ache due to the permanent hunched shoulder stance as we sit at our work computers all day, or stare for hours on end at our phones. We even hear advice about improving your chances of a good night’s sleep by not having an illuminated screen in your face for an hour before bedtime (and trying an actual paper book instead).
Yes people do still buy notebooks
Working in the industry that I do, I have often been confronted with the musing “oh you wouldn’t think people really buy notebooks these days.” Indeed, maybe you wouldn’t. Why bother when we can tap our thoughts, feelings, and important dates into a slim metal device the size of our hand? And not only that, it can loyally remind you when to do these tasks (now called “life admin”) when to send a birthday greeting, and what time your gym class starts.
However, the UK high street is telling us that stationery and paper products are very much here to stay, no matter how many iphones or tablets there are in the world. With international brands such as Smiggle, Kikki K and Hema opening their doors to hordes of stationery-lovers, and supermarkets developing higher quality and more innovative paper product at affordable prices, it is clear that people do indeed ‘still’ buy notebooks. And when that birthday reminder pops up on your email or your phone, the majority of us still hot-foot it down to our local Paperchase, Card Factory or Tesco to buy a card and gift wrap – it’s lazy to just send a text, isn’t it?
Technology and tradition can go hand in hand
For all those people who enter all of their “life admin” onto a gadget of some sort, there are still people who delight in spending an hour wandering the stationery hall of Liberty or Selfridges, just to purchase a gorgeous (and possibly unnecessary) new notebook that they will be too afraid to write in, for fear of ruining it. That very same person is also more likely than ever to then upload an image of their new purchase to Instagram, or perhaps Tweet to their fellow craft club members about how they plan to use their new treasure. Technology and tradition can go hand in hand it seems. Design and visual appeal certainly seems to be the key to the growing size of stationery departments, from Wilkinsons to Accessorize to John Lewis, as more and more retailers expand their portion of the own-brand stationery market. Personalisation, whether it is sending a funny birthday card that reminds you of the recipient, or having someone’s name engraved on a gift, or even just buying a beautiful printed diary as a gift to yourself, is one of the reasons we still love to buy paper. Design can be an extension of ourselves – it speaks to us, represents us, pleases us, it shows thought.
As I was reminded, whilst my now less-trusty gadget is always by my side, it is not infallible. Nor, of course, is a notebook, but it won’t run out of battery leading me to a panic trip to re-charge at the Apple store, nor need to be hidden out of sight in my dinner for an entire 24 hours after a quick dunk in some water.
Whilst I waited with baited breath for the diagnosis on my phone (mentally totting up the potential cost to replace it), I took another look at my notebook, with its first page now full. Bright turquoise, faux snakeskin detail, with my name in capital letters deeply embossed into the cover – part of a gift from my fantastic work colleagues when I left my workplace a few months ago. I smile at the memory. All is not lost if my phone no longer works. I have my notebook.
