In case you thought...

Your small printing business was safe check out this article.

While it ostensibly has something to do with cloud printing (see previous posts) the real focus is on (further) destroying the existing local printer model.  With this type of technology in place and fine tuned there is little that cannot be done this way in terms of printing.

As I have said before I am in the business of printing and I don't own an output device.  This will not change and as more and more people get into this market the less need there will be.

The "cloud" moniker doesn't add anything to this...  its the same web-based print service that's been talked about and done on a small scale for probably a decade.  The big difference here is that you now have someone like HP putting their muscle behind it.

(Interestingly HP is selling you an Indigo and then competing with you.  Though this is a very old idea now it keeps popping up every few years under different guises.  I suppose the real deal will be to simply license a web-connected device in your franchise area - like a Taco Bell or Subway - and then collect money whenever something comes off.  I mean HP would like you to buy the device but why bother?  In the long run HP is taking your business away for this...)

HubCast is just like any other demand print deal, e.g., a SnapFish.  I suppose the only real difference is that its "world wide" which in this context seems to mean next day delivery anywhere in the world.

On the other hand, why even bother with this for marketing materials when you've got the web.  The little discussion they have in the article talks about some semiconductor business using this instead of warehoused market literature.   Where has this guy been - warehoused marketing literature is long gone - especially in something as fast-changing as semiconductor marketing.

For years I have heard about "digital paper" coming to take over the world - supposedly something like a newspaper but digital.  On the other hand flexible color LCD displays are here.  (You may or may not be able to follow this link to a WSJ article on flexible LCD displays).

Given all of this why on earth is this semiconductor guy bothering to print his marketing materials?