Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., Todd Flashner <tflash@e...> 
wrote:
> Martin,
> 
> Don't MIS, Generations, and all the cheapo refillables companies do 
the
> same-- put their product on the market for the buyers to do as they 
see fit,
> and sell profiling kits down the road? Not saying it's a good 
practice, but
> lets not single these guys out either.

Todd,

I don't intend to single them out, although I guess I have. They are 
just one more company who seems to think that the market for quads 
consists purely of experienced users. If that were the case it would 
be nice to say up front that these are not meant for the novice or 
average users rather than to make light of the lack of software.

Everyone else has done the same thing except for ConeTech. Piezo got 
me started with quads because there was software I could use right 
out of the box without knowing anything about curves, RGB printer 
profiles, CMYK separations or RIP's. I would never have considered 
trying the MIS VM inks if Paul did not already have some curves in 
place. If those two things weren't true we would not be having this 
conversation and I would be putting my silver prints on the drying 
screens right now.

It is not that their business model is different from MIS, Lysonic or 
others; it is that they are following the same old poor business 
model. I am giving them a rough time in hopes of pushing them to do 
something that is more beneficial to users at large and profitable 
for themselves. My statements apply to everyone except ConeTech. 
Consider it a wake-up call along the lines of, "Excuse me please take 
a look around. Why do you think that Piezo is coming out on top? What 
do they have that you don't? Do you think it is just about the inks?"

> 
> I'm rather surprised some smart, enterprising, individuals (several 
persons
> on this list come to mind), don't create profiles for some of these
> inks/printers/papers, and sell them at Shareware prices. I'd think 
they
> could get a link on the ink/paper dealer sites, and generate a tidy 
little
> income. For instance, if I were buying a set of Generations inks 
for my
> Epson 1200, I'd gladly place my order with Mediastreet, then click 
the link
> to JoesPROfiles.com to pay $30 for a set of 10 paper profiles for 
that
> ink/printer combo. Heck, between you and me, I'd pay more than 
that, but you
> get the idea. 

I agree completely. If you know what you are doing and have the tools 
this does not seem so hard. I have suggested to Paul that he sell his 
curves as shareware. He is stubbornly altruistic and believes in open 
systems. I would be happy to pay for quad profiles for my printers. A 
package of generic profiles for MIS VM on my 1280 for about 10 
different papers. With that to work with I can tweak images to fit on 
other papers.

Without a starting point, I personally don't want to play and could 
not recommend it to new comers. There are others who will play but I 
bet that the ink manufacturers, in the face of Piezo's easy to use 
front end or Paul's MIS VM curves, will miss 95% of the desktop 
market. Maybe they don't care about that market.

> 
> Now I'm not the clever type, so the time/cost of making these 
things is
> probably eluding me, but I'm assuming these profiles might be 
generated in
> the course of an individual making profiles for his own use, and 
thus they'd
> be capitalizing on an investment already made.

Once again I agree but I don't see why the ink manufacturers don't do 
this. Hire Dan for $200 an hour for a few months and spread the cost 
over the price of the ink. People will buy. They are buying Piezo.

Martin
(snip)