laser-lovers@uw-beaver (01/30/85)
From: sasaki@harvard.arpa (Marty Sasaki)
The announcement of very high resolution laser printers that deal with
postscript format has been viewed by many as the beginning of the end
for small typesetting/publication houses and the various manufacturers
that make typesetting equipment. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
If you do a bit of typesetting you will find that typesetting is more
art than science. Knowing what looks good and is the most readable is
something that is very difficult to learn, requiring lots of time and
practice. This is especially true for longer pieces, like books.
Of course, if you are willing to accept something that is less than the
best, then you can put something together using a MacIntosh and a
wonderful laser printer.
For most of us this will be enough. We have the technical expertise to
play around to get things to look just right, the patience to
experiment, and our applications don't demand really high quality.
Remember, most of us were satisfied with Diablos and Spinwriters just a
few years ago.
Marty Sasaki
Havard University Science Center
sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp}
617-495-1270laser-lovers@uw-beaver (02/02/85)
From: nather%utastro.UTEXAS@ut-sally.arpa (Ed Nather) >The announcement of very high resolution laser printers that deal with >postscript format has been viewed by many as the beginning of the end >for small typesetting/publication houses and the various manufacturers >that make typesetting equipment. Nothing could be further from the >truth. > > Marty Sasaki > Havard University Science Center I'm afraid I disagree, in two different ways. True, higer resolution is important, but in my view the greatest competition will come from the laser printers and descendents which will be very inexpensive -- like the HP laserjet. Anybody remember the "Service Bureaus" of a few years back, where you could take a box full of punched cards and get your accounting done? IBM had many, as did "Univac" (now Sperry) -- because computers were so expensive small businesses couldn't afford to own one. They bought time on large, expensive machines as an alternative. Where are "Service Bureaus" today? Their demise was caused by the falling prices and increasing power of small computers, so even *very* small businesses could have one of their very own -- running Lotus 123456 to do their accounting in-house. Current typesetters cost $25,000 to $50,000 depending on bells & whistles. This is too much for a small business, although medium-sized businesses can afford them, and many already have them, doing the company newsletter and setting their ads -- employing someone with a graphic arts background to run things. Small typesetting shops survive (sometimes) in just the same way "Service Bureaus" did, by providing "time" on an expensive machine their customers can't afford to buy. Curiously, the typesetting manufacturers seem to be bent on suicide. They sell "closed systems" to people with graphic arts (as distinct from computer) backgrounds, admit only reluctantly their machines run "software", and train their customer representatives to show customers how to work around program bugs, rather than providing fixes for known bugs. Their service people are denied any information about the software; if the problem isn't in the hardware they can wash their hands of it. The AM Varityper, as an example, needs 256K to hold the program, relegating less than 10K to the internal character buffer, which overflows gracelessly at regular intervals. It is powered by the venerable Z80 (one each). Note that most typesetting shops do not provide *printing* but only do the "cold type" or pre-press operations. They send the finished slicks to a printer, who makes plates and runs his (huge) printing press. Except for very large "production" runs, this process will soon become uneconomical and will, I think, be replaced by small, quiet in-house systems that can set "cold type" and can also print a modest number of copies with acceptable, if not terribly spiffy, quality. This suggests that business schools had better start requiring one or two courses in the graphic arts for their MBAs, just as they now expect them to be computer-literate (sort of). Ed Nather Astronony Dept, U of Texas @ Austin and Nather Publications, Austin, TX. {allegra,ihnp4}!{noao,ut-sally}!utastro!nather