Creative Leisure News

Technology issues that affect your business

How Technology Is Changing Us

Not just our lives-- our business, too.

by PC Smart (February, 2004)

Note: PC Smart writes for art/craft industry consumer and trade publications in addition to being a marketing consultant and designer. In her previous, non-creative life, she was a database systems designer for a pharmaceutical company. With a background in linguistics and foreign languages, she turned to writing to give her parents the satisfaction that her college tuition was not wasted. Pamela obtained much of her technical knowledge (and her name) from her husband, Sam, who is a network engineer. He is also her primary editor/fact checker to ensure that her advice doesn�t crash anyone�s hard drive. Her main goal in writing about technology has been the marriage of computers and traditional art/crafts. Specializing in consumer level designs, Pamela focuses on the use of graphics software, scanners, and printers to help the average crafter use their computer for more than an expensive email machine. She believes that technology should be used as a tool in creativity and not necessarily the final output.

Over the holidays, I attended a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Concert. As I listened to the music, it struck me that, although many of the songs were old, the way they were presented was totally modern. The ability to take a piece of hundred-year old music, reinvent it, and have it appeal to today's audiences shows not only talent but brilliant marketing. Nearly every instrument was not just electronic, but totally high tech. There were huge video screens displaying images perfectly in sync with the music. If someone were watching television with the sound muted, they would swear this was a new age rock band playing techno-pop instead of middle-aged musicians and madrigal music.

Following the concert, I thought about the effect technology has in our lives. We carry cellular phones, send email messages, and drive cars with GPS satellite connections. I challenge you to find one aspect of your life that has not been touched by technology in some way. Medical care, food preparation/storage, product manufacturing and even our leisure time are all somehow guided by it.

Even the simplest of pastimes have been enhanced in some way by computers. We listen to CD books and children's toys have processors more powerful than the PC of the early 90s. In fact, many of today's kids are more comfortable with a mouse in their hand than a paintbrush.

So why is the Craft Industry the last to open its doors to the digital age?

Music was the first of the art forms to be infiltrated by technology. Remember the early synthesizer music, the electronically altered voices? Those early attempts seem primitive compared to today. Recordings now are all digitally enhanced. The next area to fall victim to the computer age was the movie industry. Star Wars was hailed as a marvel in special effects. Jaws thrilled moviegoers with a mechanical shark. Revisiting those movies is like seeing the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. You aren't really impressed anymore; you know how it is done. Even literature went high tech with word processing and online book downloads.

The arts � and us.

Under the art category, the first to jump on the technology bandwagon were the photographers. With digital manipulation, tedious hand retouching is a thing of the past (remember airbrushing?). Photos are never what they seem in the world of advertising. That ability to morph images is now in the hands of the average consumer with digital cameras, scanners, and software such as Photoshop.

Some sectors of our industry fought to keep themselves pure. Remember the hand vs. machine quilting debate? The computerized machines being sold today remind you of the visions of the future that were shown at world fairs of the past. Totally programmable � and all your sewing needs at the touch of a button, literally. I tried to purchase a non-computerized, heavy-duty machine this past year without much luck. The question I heard from sales clerks: why wouldn't you want all the latest advances?

So where does that leave the rest of the industry? Look around the HIA show and see how technology is creeping into traditional handcrafts. Recently, CNA featured a painting tool that spins designs with paint. PC Stitch software has been around awhile (I believe they are up to Version 7), and the world of cross stitching has not gone to heck in a hand basket as many predicted when it was introduced. The ability to chart your own designs attracted a new type of stitcher to the market and increased the design possibilities of experienced stitchers.

The newest offering of conversion software is the Photo2Painting CD. Offered in three levels, it takes an image and translates it into a paintable sketch with color recipes for the crafter to follow. This melding of fine art and paint-by-number crafting puts this innovative program into the new category of Fine Craft.

The examples given above demonstrate ways technology not only enhances the experience for die-hard crafters but also attract a new type of consumer to craft stores. These new crafters are people who consider technology an integral part of their lives. By blending high tech with traditional goods such as paints, yarn, paper, and canvas, we can boost the sales of actual supplies, keep the integrity of the techniques, and still join the modern world.

We shouldn't try to compete with technology by telling people to reject it and pick up a paintbrush. Instead we can encourage them to try something different by offering a bridge between tangible and virtual creativity.

Scrapbooking is currently experiencing a similar dilemma. Digital scrapbooking is a combination of traditional scrappers rejecting the lumpy, expensive embellishments and a fresh group of tech savvy croppers who like the ease and versatility of computer scrapping. Many will print their pages on paper, but some choose to keep their scrapbooks on CD , mailing them out for family and friends to enjoy. Fortunately, there is a happy medium to these opposing camps. With the popularity of digital cameras and scrapbook software, many traditional scrappers are using technology to enhance and not replace their albums. They blend physical eyelets and fibers with digitally enhanced photos and journaling to create unique pages. The scrapbooking industry was quick to catch on to the importance of this relationship and created products to help their devotees make the transition seamlessly (check out the software offerings of Creating Keepsakes and other major scrapbooking names). Retail stores are even jumping on the bandwagon with in-house stations to help people print their photos and more. Companies such as HP, Epson and Kodak are now exhibiting at industry trade shows.

When you wander the aisles at HIA this week, take a close look at the new products and services being offered. Even long time exhibitors are adapting their techniques and product lines to attract the tech savvy consumer. Look at your own store , your product. Is there some way to partner up with technology and boost sales? Think outside the traditional definition of crafting and you may just discover a new market you can tap into.

(Note: PC Smart can be reached at pcsmart@bellsouth.net.)

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