I love the World Series! I get caught up in the excitement of baseball’s last hurrah, and even though the busyness of work and life means baseball’s regular season goes mostly unnoticed, I’ll turn on the TV to see the last few games of the season.

Turning on the TV. A quick push of the button is all it takes to watch the World Series. We’re so spoiled! Early baseball fans would be amazed! Just look at the lengths broadcasters went through to allow fans to “watch” the World Series. Here’s a picture of the “playograph” that kept spectators updated on the progress of the game, with more-or-less real time details relayed by two playograph operators:

Crowd watching “playograph” at Herald Building, World Series, 1911. (Bain News Service/LOC)

Early Baseball Simulations

If you’re a baseball fan like me, you’ll love this entertaining read about the playograph and other early devices used to simulate baseball games:

How Did Baseball Fans Watch the World Series Before TV?

At the highest level, yesterday’s playograph and today’s TV do the exact same thing. They provide baseball fans with the most up-to-date game details available.

Printing is Like That Too

When I was reading that article I couldn’t help but think that printing is kinda like that too. Yesterday’s fax orders have been replaced by website orders. The phone calls for job status updates have been replaced by automated email alerts.

The methods of providing and receiving information have changed, but the business of printing is still ultimately about people doing business with people. And that’s one the of the principles that drives what we do here at Marketing Ideas For Printers. We’ll stay positioned on the leading edge of technology, never forgetting that no matter what technology we create and develop, printing is still about people doing business with people.

Now…back to watching this year’s World Series…on TV! It’s looking like it will be an exciting finish this year! Which team are you cheering for?