I have long held theory that the Society can easily cease it's printing operations and increase it's profit margins. How? Follow this scenario...
As we all know, the printed word and accompanying illustrations in the WT and Awake can be converted to PDF format (PDF is a format that can be locked so that the recipient cannot change the contents) upon the completion of each individual magazine. It would therefore be very easy for the Society to email or to put up on a server the WT and Awake for retrieval by the presiding overseer of each congregation. Now...imagine the PO having just downloaded the WT to his desktop. He can now take that file via memory stick to a local Kinko's and have an unlimited number of Watchtower's and Awake printed, stapled and folded just like the ones from Brooklyn at the cost to the congregation...NOT the Society.
Voila....no need for Society printing presses. Even the same can do done with all of the traditionally hard bound books, just print print them as needed and spiral bind them at the local congregation level. Print one or print up a thousand.
Or, this can all be done at a circuit level. One group could be responsible for the Circuits printing needs and distributed on a local level.
Now, the Society can still ask for more donations and totally remove the cost of printing, packaging, shipping (with their own trucks and paying for fuel-no more expensive Tractor Trailers to buy and maintain, with insurance). No more labor to print, assemble and bind the books and magazines. No more cost of food and housing to feed and house these workers. They could literally knock the whole operation at Brooklyn (which I understand is in the process of moving to Canada? If anyone can confirm) down to say...150 people? And even that number may be bloated.
Now, figure this. My friend got a Kindle from Mrs. Claus (his wife) and low and behold, what do you think he found for reading material at Amazon.com? You guessed it, WTB&TS books and magazines....for sale. Yep, you can buy them right online. So, now, let's take this one step further.
Let's suppose everyone in the congregation has a new Kindle. What if the latest WT study article was made available by download to everyone that had a Kindle...for a "contribution" price. With a Kindle, you can underline, just like a paper version of the WT. You can look up Scriptures by tapping on the screen where the scripture is cited as a reference.
So you see, I think there is a change in the wind. Maybe not now, but it's coming, it has to. It costs too much to print and distribute when there is no need to. Just offload it to the congregations.
What are your thoughts? Am I off base here? Is this a long shot, or could it be a reality in the near future. If they hadn't thought of it by now, I'm sure this post will get them somehow. Put yourselves in their shoes, how could you turn your back to this concept?