NEW YORK, NY -- February 20, 2002 -- TrendWatch Graphic Arts today released its latest special report entitled, "Storage Media: Where’s My Stuff?" TrendWatch Graphic Arts (TWGA), known for its analysis of the graphic communications industry, reports that research indicates an increasing acceptance of DVD as storage medium--especially for archiving purposes--among graphic arts professionals. Also working against traditional media is a trend by printers in implementing FTP. According to the report, 45% of the surveyed commercial printers already have an FTP site or customers to upload their files, and another 15% plan to add this ability in the next 12 months. The report was made available today for downloading in PDF format. "There’s the looming prevalence of reasonably inexpensive DVD-R media and somewhat inexpensive writers," noted Vince Naselli, Director, TrendWatch Graphic Arts. "For now, DVDs and their writers are pricey but we‚ve been here before with CDs. Digital video is also starting to become prevalent. More and more creative professionals are seeing sales opportunities in adding it to their imaging repertoires -- especially Internet design and development firms. Streaming media, especially video, is turning up on more and more sites. And DVD, with its large capacity, is perhaps the best medium on which to store video." According to the Report... -- LARGE FILE CHALLENGE: 32% of magazine publishers said they were challenged by "working with large files on a network"; -- ARCHIVING: 29% of commercial photographers are challenged by archiving jobs/files; -- STORAGE DEVICE BUYS: The number of design and production firms investing in storage technologies dropped from 50% (Summer ‚98) to 27%; -- STORAGE DEVICE BUYS: Magazine publishers investing in storage technologies dropped from 65% (Summer ‚98) to 20%; -- CD-R BUYS: Commercial photographers planning to invest in CD-R writers has dropped from 24% (Summer 2000) to 9%; -- DIGITAL VIDEO VS. DVD BUYS: 47% of design and production firms that plan to invest in digital video editing software also plan to invest in DVD writers; -- HIGH-SPEED TELECOM BUYS -- 8% of magazine publishers plan to invest in secure high-speed telecommunications (like WAM!NET or Vio), up from 3% last year; -- JOBS VIA EMAIL -- 79% of printers receive at least some jobs via e-mail, and another 10% will add that capability in the next 12 months; About the "Storage Media: Where’s My Stuff?" Report... Many documents have multiple page elements and the "deliverables" can range from a few megs to more than a couple gigabytes. How are these files transferred? Obviously some type of removable media. But which kind? In this 74 page report, we address and answer issues such as: -- Is Internet, or some other direct file transmission, becoming prevalent as an effective means of moving files? If so, how prevalent?; -- And how are these files stored and cataloged once they’re used?; -- What’s the future for these technologies? In a digital world we not only need a safe storage device that allows us to access files on command, but one that also allows us to transfer that data in a format and on media that‚s readable. With the information in this report, vendors and service professionals will better understand the trends currently shaping storage media and file transmission allowing them to maximize compatibility with their clients‚ files and means of moving jobs. The report is available at their web site.