For many years, ink-jet imaging has tended to take a back seat to laser imaging. Just start with the fact that "laser" tends to sound so much more impressive than mundane ink—something that’s been with us for a long, long time (scientists trace it back to 12th century BC, when the Chinese first began manufacturing and using ink).
However, right now may be the perfect opportunity for ink-jet imaging thanks to current economic conditions. While larger companies continue to hold back on IT purchasing, we’re seeing small business and consumers begin to take the first baby steps in purchasing. For instance, according to Karen Mills, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses may actually be among the first to lead the recovery, “We do know that the growth in the economy is going to come from small business."
Wirth Consulting believes ink-jet vendors and products are perfectly positioned to appeal to these small business. Here are some of their advantages:
- Because ink-jet vendors’ customers traditionally include both small-/home-office (SOHO) users, and consumers, most have taken great pains to ensure that even the most technically unenlightened among us can install these systems without a hitch. Wirth Consulting has extensively tested these ink-jet systems, and found that setting up hardware, connecting to the network and installing software is easier than ever.
- The same thing applies to ease of use. Ink-jet vendors have had go out of their way to make sure that their client software is easy to use because their users can’t typically rely on internal IT help, and many end-users are novices. Second, we’re now seeing color ink-jet AiOs under $500 with touch screens. And as evaluated by Wirth Consulting, these ink-jet touch screens more than hold their own against more expensive laser systems’ touch screens, and make configuring job settings, including entering e-mail addresses for scan-to-e-mail, easier than ever.
- Ink-jets really shine when printing color photographs, and and for producing archival prints, which laser systems can’t match.
- When it comes to power consumption, ink-jets also win hands down; they consume as little as one-tenth the power consumption of their laser counterparts.
- Ink-jets also boast a much smaller footprint than their laser counterparts. As I write this, I sit next to a color laser printer and a color ink-jet All-in-One. Even with an automatic document feeder, the All-in-One is half as tall as the laser printer, and frankly, I’ve never noticed a real appreciable difference in print speed. Maybe you don’t consider footprint that big of a deal, but consider that the cost of real estate is a significant expense when running a business. Read more here.
