Noel Ward In his popular book, "Being Digital," MIT Media Lab director Nicholas Negroponte points out, "Bits are bits," and goes on to illustrate how bits can take many forms and be used in countless ways. Negroponte has always been ahead of the curve and in a lot of ways his book is about convergence, some aspects of which we've covered in recent issues of Digital Asset Directions. The many faces of convergence we've talked about in the past couple of months are a really matter of making those bits do as many things as possible--often at the same time. If the message of convergence hasn't hit home in your company yet, chances are you'll begin noticing it before long. The trends are sweeping the industry, from the pending growth of Web-enabled printing, to the intertwining of marketing pitches with bills and statements, to the lowering cost of digital color printing, and the ability of single print engines to run multiple types of jobs at differing resolutions. The convergence spans all segments of printing and information services. Quick printers are handling variable data, print and mail service bureaus are offering ESP/EBP (Electronic Statement/Bill Presentment) services, in-plant print operations are merging and streamlining offset and digital print operations, books and manuals are rapidly shifting to digital presses as publishing heads toward Web-enabled printing. As these and more all merge, overlap and evolve into new forms, print engines and the software that drives them are changing as well. New machines are often no faster, but the software enables new workflow capabilities that increase productivity and allow all types of information to be combined in almost any way imaginable. There may be new skills to learn, but the end result is greater value, efficiency and hopefully a better ROI. ***** SCANNING: AN IMPORTANT CONVERGENCE TOOL ***** In "Being Digital" and various speeches, Negroponte spends some time talking about the differences between bits and atoms, and how much more efficient bits can be. Bits can become atoms (a printed page) but convergence sometimes requires turning atoms back into bits. And that means scanning. Scanning is by far the most efficient way to integrate existing hard copy information to new documents and even add printed information to databases. Most major print engine vendors offer scanning solutions, often with OCR capabilities that are increasingly accurate and fast. Oce Image Logic, Oce's scanning solution is an efficient system for digitally enhancing hard-copy originals and producing high quality copies and scans. It works automatically inside Oce 3155 and 3165 copiers with little user intervention. It also takes a difference approach than other scanning software. Imagine a single page with a photo, drawing, plain text, reversed text and shaded areas. Most scanners or digital copiers attempt to scan all these features and calculate an average setting for printing the entire page. Oce Image Logic processes every pixel on each page. Its patented process automatically determines if a pixel is part of a photo, text, or a combination of both and then optimizes the reproduction of that pixel for printing. The associated algorithms can result in prints or copies that are actually better than the originals, particularly for originals damaged, mutilated or soiled from age. This is especially important when scanning legacy documents that have spent the last dozen years stuffed into a box in a warehouse. ***** CERTIFIED PAPER ***** Oce Image Logic's scanning requires some sophisticated engineering. But plenty of engineering is also needed when it comes to printing on paper. No matter how sophisticated the print engine, paper still makes a huge difference in the quality of the image. Back in May, we noted how paper is increasingly engineered for specific digital presses. To optimize its paper and expand its supplies program, Oce has formed an alliance with the Business Communications Papers Division of Willamette Industries. The partnership between the two companies enables Oce to offer customers branded and competitively priced roll papers certified for consistent performance on Oce printers. The first types of paper are available now and additional types will become available throughout the coming year. Oce and Willamette plan to use their combined R&D resources in the U.S., Netherlands and Germany to focus on new product development, with an emphasis on papers for growing markets such as print on demand and direct mail. ***** CONVERGENCE AT PRINT '01 ***** If you're going to the PRINT '01 trade show and conference in Chicago (Sept. 6 through 13) you'll see dozens of examples of convergence first hand. More than ever before, all types of attendees will be seeking new knowledge and solutions about ways of handling the many faces of print and data convergence. Flexibility of software, hardware and how they are used are crucial to managing convergence. Oce will be demonstrating the flexibility of its Squadron and PRISMA servers, and DemandStream print engines and its comprehensive mix of networked printing and scanning technologies that handle convergence between office networks and production and publishing print operations.