Interesting article I found HERE
“Data Watch: Scrapbooking shows path toward digital
According to the recently released PMA 2008 U.S. Consumer Scrapbook Report, 22 percent of U.S. households have completed scrapbook projects and an additional 9 percent of households have started but not finished a scrapbook project. Fourteen percent of households completed a scrapbook in the 12 month period ending April 2008, up from 12 percent who completed one in 2005. The percent of U.S. households interested in the digital components of scrapbooking has increased dramatically over the past couple of years, according to PMA Marketing Research.
Scrapbooks can be impressive craft pieces but take time and practice to make the traditional way. The emerging role of digital technology in scrapbooking may be the catalyst for speeding up the process and expanding the popularity of scrapbooks beyond the dedicated niche to mainstream photo customers. Digital options may even be the tool to attract more young people to the market. Nineteen percent of active scrapbooking households used the computer for some elements of their scrapbook project in 2005. This more than tripled in the year ending April 2008, with a whopping 68 percent of scrapbookers using the computer for some elements of their scrapbook project.
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Only one percent of households completed the entire project using the computer in the 12 month period ending April 2008, down from 5 percent in 2005.
While 55 percent of households plan to keep their computer use the same, more than 40 percent of households cited they plan to increase computer usage in their scrapbook projects. Only 4 percent plan to decrease computer use.
The most popular reason for using computers in scrapbooking was for printing digital photos, cited by 47 percent of active scrapbooking households. Thirty-four percent used the computer to improve the quality of photos and 30 percent use it for the designing of pages.
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Other reasons for using the computer that were mentioned were to print other materials and to visit forums and blogs.
Twenty-two percent had other reasons for using the computer as well. ” [Emphasis mine].
As is common with the news media, it seems to me they attached a misleading headline to this article. They grabbed our attention by making it sound like digi-scrapping is slowly taking over our industry, probably knowing it’s a “controversial” and interesting topic to scrapbookers today. At least I find it very intriguing! I’m old school, hard core, paper and Herma tab girl all the way. So when someone waves that digi flag in front of me, I’m hooked. I was ready to be depressed by this article, figuring it would tell me how “everyone” is going digital with their scrapbooking and soon “no one” will be doing paper scrapping. Is that what you supposed after reading the headline?
Well, as you can see by taking a closer look, including reading the 2 sentences I highlighted, that’s not what the fine print says at all. In fact, if I’m reading this right, digi-scrapping itself is actually DOWN: “Only one percent of households completed the entire project using the computer in the 12 month period ending April 2008, down from 5 percent in 2005.” Almost half of those using their computer for “scrapping” are actually using it for printing photos. Well now, that’s a bit different, isn’t it? Of course that activity has gone up as most of us have voluntarily or practically been forced to switch to a digital camera.
I’m not sure how to interpret this statement: “30 percent use it for the designing of pages.” So, of those who cited using their computer for scrapping, 30% of them (mind you, NOT 30% of ALL scrappers) used the computer to design part of the page but obviously not all of the page, since there was a separate category for that (the one percent of households who completed the ENTIRE project using the computer). What did those 30% do exactly….write journaling, print out song lyrics, print a digi-element or journaling box, print a transparency?? Again, not exactly showing the “strong path towards digital” I had expected from the headline.
After reading this article, what are your thoughts?
