After all the talk about any new print technology, for me it comes down to 3 big things: 1) Is it faster? 2) Is it cheaper? 3) Most importantly… Is the quality equal to, better than or worst case is the quality adequate given the potential benefits of question #1 and #2?

In my opinion the answer for all 3 of these questions for inkjet is still a resounding… NO. Get your hands on some samples and be the judge…. I think we are at least 2-3 years away from a technology that will make the cut when you ask the 3 big questions: faster? cheaper? better?

watch?v=PofM_EfBqtg

Essentially this is a technique used to hit a large solid area of ink with 2 applications of ink. Often the first hit is a screened version of the second hit so you don’t get a build up of too much ink. The effect is spectacularly deep colors. In the case of this graphic novel it was the right tool for the job and the publisher loves it. We generated a black at least 3-4 times more rich than with a single hit of black ink.

For more information click on the link below:

http://printwiki.org/Touch_Plate

Disclaimer: I am not endorsing “BING” as a search engine.

Read the comments as those are as entertaining as the “smelling of the books”

http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2011/03/07/smelling-the-books#comments

You can’t do this with a Kindle!!

For my household is spells disaster for my wife in the form of idle teenagers who live in the country. Of course I explain to them how “When I grew up we spent the whole day playing outside…. Go outside!” Can you see the eye rolls immediately evoked from my 15 year old?

So, we made a deal… for each book she reads this summer I have agreed to a modest sum of compensation from which she can purchase any number of things that a teenage girl might have interest in ….lip gloss, clothes, RED hair dye!

The catch… she must write a summary report and post it on a blog. So, take a look and see what she is reading. It’s not a replacement for Oprah’s list yet but some interesting titles are in the lineup.

http://sffbr.blogspot.com/

2 books down…. I think I see a new bottle of nail polish in her future.

BLOG UPDATE:

My daughter, rightfully so, has taken issue with my portrayal of her in my last posting. She clarified that in no way does she need compensation to read books. She loves books and regardless of my monetary motivation she would read throughout the summer.

Touché!

Having said that I certainly will hold up my end of the deal to give her some motivation to read, read, and read.

I told her that I would be more than happy to clarify her love of books. I am more than delighted with a young adult being passionate about reading when some are proclaiming the death of reading within young people.

http://sffbr.blogspot.com/

• Initial capital costs from all inkjet suppliers is insane.
• Inkjet (quality) is ready for SOME markets not all.
• None of the current inkjet appearance comes close to offset quality however text only line-work is reasonable.
• Operating costs for ongoing inkjet are far from developed and those using it are not yet seeing the cost benefits.
• We are 2-4 years away from a high quality, cost competitive inkjet solution.

Clearly in time, inkjet will become a fantastic technology for printing books however for our customers at Thomson-Shore; we will not sacrifice quality in favor of changing for the sake of change. We will continue to watch this technology closely and keep you informed at least from our perspective.

Listen on-line at: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=3&islist=true&id=3&d=12-14-2010

And stay tuned tomorrow for what sounds like another interesting pontification….