Discussion

By James Olsen on Jun 23, 2014

Richard, even I can understand this article. Must be tough to write about technical stuff at a third grade level.

By Richard Romano on Jun 23, 2014

Well, I always insist that analyst briefings take the form of puppet shows, which makes it easier for me to grok.

By Joel Salus on Jul 01, 2014

Richard, thanks for the write-up from a technology perspective, i.e., "how it works." I was invited to, and did attend, the HP PageWide "wide-format" kick-off event HP held in San Diego, June 9th and 10th. While I've already put up several posts on my blog about HP's PageWide wide-format printers, it's highly likely that many of your readers are not reprographers. (My blog is devoted solely to the reprographics community.) Having been involved in the reprographics business and industry for 40+ years, I've seen technology changes that have, at different points in time, changed how reprographers operate their businesses, how they price their services, etc, etc. Although most reprographers, by now, offer large-foramt, full-color display graphics printing services, the main revenue driver for most reprographers remains - printing plans and specs for Architects, Engineers and Construction companies. ("Plans" - what some people still call "blueprints", even though "blueprinting" technology became obsolete decades ago.) HP's first production level PageWide wide-format printer is targeted at the "technical document" marketplace, i.e., "plans" for firms in the A/E/C industry. HP has billed its PageWide wide-format technology as a "disruptive" technology. And, if HP's claims prove out, it will be a very disruptive technology. Today, A/E/C firms mostly ordered plan sets in black & white. And, they do so because plan sets printed in black & white are offered at very low prices compared to plan sets printed in color. Among HP's claims; its production level PageWide wide-format printer will generate prints faster, and at comparable or less cost, than any of the current high-speed, high-volume black-and-white-only large format (LED) printers. And, HP's PageWide printer will generate color prints or black & white prints at the same print-speed. If HP's claims prove out, then this will be disruptive in these ways; a) current high-volume, high-speed, production level black & white printers may become obsolete, b) some reprographers may end up offering color plan sets at the same price they offer b/w plan sets (this will probably happen over a period of years, for their will be resistance to this change), c) A/E/C firms who've been ordering plan sets in b/w may well change that habit to ordering plan sets in color. (Keep in mind that A/E personnel who draw plans on CAD systems draw in layers and those layers are in color. They will no longer have to create a b/w pdf (or plot) file to print; they can just create a color pdf file to print. Prints will end up looking like they do "on-screen."

One reprographics equipment manufacturer, KIP, does have a high-volume, hi-speed, LED print system that prints in b/w or color. But, HP's PageWide wide-format printer reportedly will produce prints 2x to 3x faster. That's a game changer for my industry.