WOA 04 -- Getting a Jump On Drupa 2004

ROMANO: I expect a few surprises in digital printing at Drupa, but most of what we will see will be incremental improvement. We hope to see at least one four-up system and more systems with online finishing.

MASON: I'm more of a believer in evolution than in revolution. I look for incremental advances in digital printing, but these could greatly influence how we view commercial printing. The very idea of digital printing can quickly bring us to the point where a commercial quality, four-color printing machine is just another icon in the printer folder on your computer. For many businesses this means it may soon be advantageous to have a "printing press" on the office LAN. This would permit printing of sales brochures, specification sheets and other collateral literature as needed, thus eliminating extra copies.