Just a short one this week, folks.

I think we need to stop talking about “the digital transformation.” It sounds too much like “the death of print,” or “everything’s going digital,” and all that misguided talk. If you’ve been paying attention to the publishing industry for the past few years you know that’s not how it worked out.

We have to embrace reality and avoid getting caught up in theories. The theory — oft-promoted by the digital whiz kids, conference speakers and such — was that everything would go digital. The reality is that print continues to have a place in the market because it turns out that it’s better for some things.

The vacuum cleaner didn’t eliminate the broom and FM didn’t eliminate AM. Digital didn’t replace print so much as create more options.

I read on my iPad and on my phone every single day, but I prefer flipping through the pages of a print magazine. There’s simply no digital equivalent, and we have to quit pretending there’s a digital replacement for every print publication. There isn’t, and we need to stop trying to make it happen.

The Economist recently did a study of millennials that should make us reconsider all the dubious claims about “digital natives” and the other stuff people have been telling us for years. It turns out millennials aren’t exactly the way the experts predicted. What a surprise.

Here are a couple things that caught my eye from that report.

• they like print subscriptions
• traditional media brands played a significant role in their lives

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all unexpected.

• They consumed more online news media than any other generation before them

The point here is not to write about millennials, but to remind everyone that when facts and theories collide, go with the facts.

Yes, print has declined, for obvious reasons. But it’s not going away. At least not any time soon. So we need to embrace a publishing strategy that includes print and digital options.