The twentieth century has been characterized by the development of various kinds of technology and its exerted influences. Supporting this trend are developments in information technology including printing, together with developments in scientific technique such as interaction and its subsequent acceleration of technological change. Some examples of technology applying information techniques are hot type composition (in the 1980s), analog type color scanner, photo typesetter and in the 1990s, desk top publishing. This has grown along with the advance of computerization. The personal computer has come to be used for E-mail and the production of printed matter. Furthermore this growth is being accelerated by the diffusion of computers resulting in the formation of information systems. It has been under these conditions that local area networks linked up inside corporations and the internet connected organizations and individuals to each other. Nowadays, personal computers are not only used for printing operations, they are so versatile they have become essential to implementing ordinary, integrated management. Furthermore, networks themselves have raised their media status by sending data over networks to personal computers, allowing a break-away from the paper print media in some areas. It is now possible to send instantaneously digital data all around the world by means of the World Wide Web and directories such as YAHOO. So, we can expect that both printed matter and the electronic media will focus technically on digital networks and that the printing business will have to ride that wave to survive. Examining these circumstances, this article describes the transition and future of the printing industry from such historical perspectives as the media ideal, the economy and the NET-Net meaning communication network. Then `net' compared to `gross' will be discussed in order to consider the viability of the printing business in the twenty-first century.
