Check the Facts

In February, I waxed nostalgic about the 30 year march of time since Quick Printing was first established. Our industry has gone from dot matrix to CTP, from down-and-dirty to digital and pretty—all the while defying the experts who predicted the death of printing.

But while the printing industry is alive and well, that doesn't mean it hasn't changed. Technology has made that a necessity. Today, we all do things very differently than we did a few years back. If you had told me 10 years ago that Quick Printing magazine would be augmented by an interactive website, an e-newsletter, a video network, an online buyers guide and, soon, a complete electronic version of the magazine itself, I wouldn't have believed it. (Oh, we also still produce 43,000 printed copies a month.)

However, all this technology that has fueled the global avalanche of instantaneously transmitted information has its drawbacks. One is that the sheer volume of information being transmitted can be, and often is, overwhelming. What's important and what's not? How do we tell? A second drawback is that we often can't tell what's true and what isn't. A hoax can circulate so fast and be repeated so often it becomes regarded as fact.

I was reminded of this when I got a forwarded email from a printer friend that said in case of an emergency you can enter your ATM number backwards and the ATM will automatically notify 911. I went to www.snopes.com and confirmed that this was bogus information. I advise you to also check out any such emails before hitting the forward button. Just to save you time, here are a few other widely circulated hoaxes:

• NASA did not spend millions inventing a pen that would work in space while the Russians simply used pencils instead.
• Japan did not name a town Usa so it could stamp goods "Made in USA."
• Nobody ever wrote a negotiable check on the side of a cow.
• You can't get out from under a debt by writing "Paid in Full" on a check for partial payment.
• The car on the back side of the $10 bill is not a Model T Ford driven by Bonnie and Clyde.
• The KKK does not own Marlboro, or Colonel Sanders, or Troop clothing, or Snapple, or Timberland—and Coors does not donate to it.
• Neither Procter & Gamble nor Liz Claiborne donates to the Church of Satan.
• Fanta was not invented by the Nazis and China doesn't own Costco.
• You never could redeem aluminum pull tabs for dialysis time or cigarette packs for seeing-eye dogs.
• A baby born in flight will not get free air travel for life, and don't bother sending your old shoes to Nike. They won't send you a new pair.
• Finally, Naugahyde is not made from the skins of Sumatran naugas.

Just thought you should know.