Whenever graphic arts dealers gather these days, their talk tends toward one thing. It is not new technology, the future of the print media or even the state of economy, subjects one might think are on the minds of the businesspeople who sell, ship and service the vast majority of the industry's consumable supplies and much of its electronic imaging equipment.

Rather, the dealers are commiserating about the immediate and the specific type of business transactions they are facing each day - the "deals," as they are called. They are wondering how much longer they can last "taking" the deals and whether they would have any future at all if they turn them down. If you listened in, even if you didn't understand the details, you could discern that the dealers are acknowledging that they are between the proverbial rock and hard place.

The dealers are focusing on the deals as the clearest, most tangible evidence that their futures are at grave risk. In fact, an analysis of these deals can tell much about the state of the whole industry and the changes that are coming.