St. Louis is a city based in tradition. Catholicism, good food and small business are three vital aspects of the St. Louis society. In this article, I want to highlight the importance of businesses in the city area, especially St. Louis printing companies.

Today, the only remaining newspaper that is printed on a daily basis in Missouri is the St. Louis Post Dispatch. This newspaper is read as far west as Kansas City, as far north as Springfield, Illinois, and as far south as Memphis, Tennessee! But, what has gotten the world of print business to where it is today?

Let's face the facts, technologically, print is old. Everything about it is old. At one point, it was considered the technological achievement of a society, but today it has become more or less underrated and overlooked - taken for granted.

How can businesses expect to thrive in a society that is so dependent upon entertainment? This is a good question considering that entertainment affects attention spans. People want to know the gist of a story rather than the details. Take Facebook and Twitter for example. They are two social networks that provide "news feeds" that give their subscribers information that may or may not be pertinent to their lives. But it's fast, efficient and takes little effort to get this information - unlike reading a newspaper.

People don't want to read. This goes for business too. Businessmen and businesswomen don't necessarily want to spend their time reading and mulling over information when there's work to be done. Specific St. Louis printing companies are continually trying to find the perfect balance of tradition and technology. These kind of companies that aren't necessarily small or big are challenged with clients who don't necessarily understand the importance that printing still holds on a society.

From QR codes to mail fulfillment, printing companies are continually trying to expand their services to reach clients who don't just need printing. In fact, you'll notice today that even large printing companies in St. Louis dependent upon printing (St. Louis Post Dispatch) are researching and developing new methods to syndicate their news. But, in the end what will the world of printing be? Will we be faced with the fact that our newspaper will basically contain "paperless" papers? The generation that subscribes to the daily paper will pass, and this new generation that is so dependent upon entertainment will become the leaders. What will happen to printing companies? What are your thoughts?