McIlroy--Where Are We Going On the Web?

They would, that is, if what they were buying was a commodity product. The problem is that most printing is still a custom-manufactured product. With a wide variety of trim sizes, substrates, inks and bindings, there is no such thing as an average printed piece.

This is why the three most interesting Web-based print services—each taking a different approach—are focusing on two categories of product they consider commoditized: letterhead and business cards (with some attention to "product data sheets" as a potential third commodity category).