An Average Printer Costs $300 Million Dollars

HP launches ad campaign to boost printers - Boston.com HP launched a $300 million dollar marketing campaign to promote what they call "web-based printing

"As more and more content moves from the desktop to the Web, HP is working to make printing relevant and meaningful,"

I think what they meant to say was that, as other companies continue to improve and gain traction, HP is working to try and remain relevant and meaningful. Its been a long time since I have thought of HP's printers being top shelf, or even all that good, for that matter. Sticking 2.0 at the end of print makes you look like the 40 something guy that tries to dress like he's 21. Apparently, this new technology will allow us to make books of photos and text. Haven't we been able to do that for a while now – even at home? Finishing is the name of the game. The trouble with home printing, for anything more than single sheet printing, is the finishing. Cutting, binding, sorting – it is a pain. They will also be offering stationery designs that you can go and grab from a website to use. So they are building Publisher? All of this "cutting edge" stuff is only going to cost $300 million dollars to market. $300 million, and after that, you will still be my dad's printer. This doesn't sound revolutionary or even all that creative. If you want to solve the new uses for printers and the web, how about investing that $300 million in a technology that will make low resolution internet images print well? Then, you would be solving the REAL web and printing issue and people would run to you instead of being pulled. While they are at it, why not invest the $300 million in improving your inks and color reproduction. Maybe a color reproduction system that scans your monitor settings and adjusts the output to match the screen (since most people will never buy monitor calibration equipment). Oh one more gift from HP, a[nother] toolbar that will give us access to printing tips. Another toolbar will definitely get me fired up.

Powered by ScribeFire.

-----