Can Printers Survive in this Dwindling Market?
Oct 11, 2008 General
These are dark times, the market seems to be hitting a new low everyday and businesses are losing millions of pounds as time passes by. Many are being laid off and people are afraid to spend money. Is this the right time to invest, is probably the question on all our minds. Francis McMahon, marketing director for HP’s graphic arts in an interview provided some valuable information that could be particularly helpful for the printing industry. Here’s an excerpt:
Francis feels that the time is prime to look beyond the existing business and to venture into new opportunities that can present itself if discovered. This may be done by expanding one’s business and explore new revenue generating avenues.
When questioned regarding the best opportunities, Francis felt that printers shouldn’t hold back but instead offer more services for the existing customers. The key to this opportunity is both the client and the service provider are on the same boat, and both are looking for new ways to grow their businesses and improve productivity.
Budgets can be dealt with aptly by switching over to digital technology over traditional ones. It kills two birds in one shot; first, it eliminates the cost and waste associated with long print runs, and secondly, it allows you to personalize marketing materials to help your customers establish direct, one-to-one connections with their prospects that can really pay off.
Let us know what you think would be the best strategy in these hard times.
Read the entire interview on HP.com.
Epson’s Cartridge Collection and Recycling Program Spreads to Large Format Printers
Sep 22, 2008 General
Epson’s contribution to an eco-friendly environment received a boost with the program spreading its wings towards large format printers. Now, large format printer users will be able to deposit their empty ink cartridges for recycling.
All large format printers that were marketed and sold in Europe since February 2006 will be a part of this program. The decision to include these printers in the recycling program was undertaken at the Epson Exceeding in Sustainability conference earlier this year. The conference can be outlined with the following objectives:
• Creating and providing earth-friendly products
• Transforming all processes to reduce the burden on the environment
• Recovering and recycling used products
• Sharing of environmental information and contributing to regional and international preservation efforts
• Continually improving the environmental management system
Epson will arrange for free box collection across the European continent for most of Epson’s users. The company guarantees that every single cartridge collected will be recycled, and hence reducing the load on landfills. The metallic parts of cartridges will be smelted and reused for other industrial applications.
TallyGenicom Recommends Five Tips to Reduce Carbon Footprint
Sep 11, 2008 General
All companies are involved in printing work on a day to day basis which is taking a toll on our eco-system. TallyGenicom, a leading solution provider for printers for businesses has recommended five tips to enable companies to reduce the carbon footprint.
Here’s an abridged version of the recommended printing tips:
1. Use recycled cartridges – Using remanufactured cartridges will save companies at least 40% of the printing cost. The company will not only have cost implications, but can make an impact on environment as well, as the non-biodegradable plastic heading to landmines will reduce considerably.
2. Use recycled paper – This statistic should tell the whole story: one ton of paper from recycled pulp saves 17 trees, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 7,000 gallons of water, 4,200 kilowatt hours, 390 gallons of oil, and eliminates 60 pounds of air pollutants.
3. Duplexing prints – Duplexing prints will reduce the paper used at most by 50% which can protect against deforestation, and the statistic mentioned above can be applied again.
4. Use electronic forms – Companies tend to waste reams of pre-printed documents when they go in for a change of telephone number, company logo among others. Instead, companies should avail the technology currently available that allows data associated with general use forms to be pre-loaded electronically into a laser printer and automatically merged with existing print data streams to help eliminate paper waste.
5. Optimize printing infrastructure – Companies need to reassess their printing needs and should work towards centralizing and consolidating printers. A step such as usage of thermal printers over laser printers which consumes lesser power needs to be employed.
Shut Down Your Computer Today
Aug 27, 2008 General
IT giants HP, Intel and Citrix have joined hands and requested all users to shut down their computers tonight (August 27, 2008) in a bid to spread awareness of saving energy. Today has been chosen as the day when all participating users will shut down their computers and the amount of energy saved will be published shortly.
Energy saved is money saved! A part of the money saved would be donated to the American Red Cross.
The request is not to shut down your computer and stop doing your work, but to shut it down before heading to bed. The only thing that can get affected will be your downloads, if any. It’s OK to let go of it for a day, for environment; please…
Register on HP website to show your support to save energy.
**update**
So far 2457 users have signed up and the estimated savings in terms of energy is 31,941 kilo watts. That could probably light up a small city for an entire night…
Your Printer Tricks you to Buy New Cartridges; Don’t Do it
Many users around the world have complained that their printer prompts a cartridge change when they felt that the cartridge had enough to fuel a lot more prints. This claim has been proved before and Farhad Manjoo, a writer at Slate.com narrates his side of the story and how he overcame the lying vultures.
Manjoo bought Brother HL-2040 laser printer a few years back and the printer has worked in supreme touch ever since. One day, it suddenly stopped working and demanded a toner change. Manjoo smelt a rat as none of the prints had faded. He Googled and found a fix on fixyourownprinter.com to override the toner sensors. Manjoo stuck an electrical tape on the toner’s sensor and the printer ever since has delivered hundreds of prints without any sign of fading; yet. Another user on the website has quoted that he was able to print 1800 pages before his toner finally ran out.
Printer manufacturers trick users into believing that their ink/toner has run out, as the money they make is mainly through consumables and not the printer itself. A few law suits (that are known) filed and won and a lot more to be filed in the future. Despite legal action, printer manufacturers will not stop cheating customers. This is probably the reason how Kodak has pitched in by offering ink cartridges at a cheaper price and yet produce a lot more prints.
As Christopher Null states - Saving a tree may be good, but saving a whole bunch of oil and keeping a cartridge full of chemicals out of the landfill: Even better.
Top 10 Printable Paper Productivity Tools
This is the age of computers and the web. If you believe that people are moving away from using paper, you could just be wrong. Lifehacker has listed ten tools/devices/call-it-whatever-you-need that can be created from paper and a printer.
For a simple and arduous task of note taking in college, this creator has developed printable templates based on Cornell’s method that breaks down sentences into workable concepts and items. So, students can take print-outs of the template and start taking notes seamlessly and efficiently.
Another hack that tickled my right brain is the foldable mini pocket organizer. PocketMod is a freeware that creates slick-looking printouts you fold a few times into a mini-organizer. The end result is simply amazing considering all the fields (daily/weekly/monthly planners, a calendar, RSS feeds, notes, or anything) you can enter into it.
If you have anything up your sleeve, let us know.
Fonts that should Never be Used Ever Again
Jul 13, 2008 General
Ever wondered what font we use on this blog? Well, the point of discussion is not the font used on this blog but the fonts that irritate readers, which might eventually lead them to stop reading your content. Before you read the next paragraph, just imagine the fonts that you don’t want to see ever again, your guess might just be right!
Keri Design and Print blog has posted the worst fonts that were ever created. Let me reiterate, some fonts have been overused and hence the aversion.
An excerpt from the post: There are some fonts that should never be used for anything serious. Actually, there are A LOT of fonts that shouldn’t ever be used for anything. Period. But there’s a handfull of fonts that are horrible because they’re overused, difficult to read if used for more than a headline, are just plain ugly, or a combination of these things. So without further ado, here are the top 5 worst fonts you should never use.
Here’s the top 5 worst fonts according to the author:
1. Comic Sans
2. Papyrus
3. Brush Script
4. Monotype Corsiva
5. Times New Roman
I have mixed feelings about the list. While I agree whole heartedly on strangling readers with Comic Sans and Papyrus, and the inappropriate usage of Brush Script, others, according to me didn’t deserve to be on this list. At the end of the day, the list is subjective to the writer.
A special mention on Times New Roman; it’s an ever green font and although we see it all the time, it doesn’t get to your nerves.
Here’s my list of top 5 worst fonts:
1. Comic Sans (a website is dedicated to banning the font)
2. Impact
3. Algerian
4. Brush Script
5. Papyrus
On the flip side, the font that I like the most is Garamond, followed by Century Gothic and Verdana.
15 Of The Best Tech Companies For Employee Perks
May 29, 2008 General
Gone are the days when employees were content to settle for whatever office conditions a company might bother to offer to them. These days, employees want to work in a space that is fun and exciting. They want high-tech toys, great employee lounge space and the ability to say that they truly like going to work. After all, there is increasingly the option for people to telecommute to work or to start their own businesses from home so there has to be a compelling reason to get people to make the drive to the office every day. Tech businesses are the businesses that seem to understand that best.
Here are some of the best tech businesses to work for if you’re looking for a company that gives perks to its employees.
Best Solution to Conserve Ink Cartridges
May 26, 2008 General
It’s a fact that an average person spends several pounds a month on printing (especially on cartridges) and there is more than one way to save the cost of printing. I found the best of them all earlier last week and convinced that it works.
Blanksheetofpaper.com makes a mockery of saving ink cartridges and the pseudo-web-software prints blank sheets and nothing else.
Here’s what they have to say - BlankSheetofPaper.com is a free online utility to allow you to print a blank sheet of paper from your printer in case you need a clean white, blank sheet of paper to write on. No download required.
This website was conceptualized and designed by Benjamin Bradford, an IT manager and a programmer. The website states that it has been sold away for millions but hard to believe so.
Surprisingly, there have been thousands of hits and many have appreciated the mock software cum idea and here’s the best feedback: I had a big meeting, but had no blank paper to write on! It was an emergency! After a quick Google, I found your site and sure enough after reading the FAQ’s and online manual, boom, there was a blank sheet of paper for me to use from the printer! Thanks blanksheetof paper.com!
Green Initiatives Undertaken by Major Printer Manufacturers
May 21, 2008 General
The ominous effects of pollution and destruction of forests has seeped through the corporate circles, and major players in printer manufacturing industry are taking serious note of the situation. Giants like HP, Epson, Brother among others are carrying out various activities to demonstrate their contribution towards protecting the eco-system.
Epson – The company is closely monitoring the transport volumes and hopes to reduce the number of cargo vehicles that ply with their products onboard. Epson is also working on minimizing the size of its printers, so that, more printers can be transported per vehicle.
HP – This printing giant is planning on saving energy by opting for LEDs over fluorescent tubes in its scanners. It recently announced that it would be using recycled plastic for manufacturing its line of cartridges.
Brother – This Japanese giant has introduced 5R concept - Reduce, Reuse, Reform, Refuse and Recycle. Subsequently, Brother has arranged for collecting points for correctly disposing used cartridges in several cities across the Eastern world.
