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26 Oct 99 - new duplexing inkjet printer; direct mail on the rise ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive ------------------- >From Bruce Nordman, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA: Hewlett-Packard recently introduced the model 970Cse inkjet printer. It is the first inkjet printer that I am aware of that includes automatic duplexing. This is remarkable for two reasons: - Printer manufacturers have long held that duplexing wasn't feasible on inkjets due to the drying time of the ink and the "show through" that occurs as the ink absorbs into the paper. I'm told that HP has advanced the technology of the ink and/or the printhead to get beyond these problems. - Duplexing units for laser printers typically cost about $400, more than the cost of the entire printer for most inkjet models. Few inkjet machines would use enough paper in their life to justify such an expense in terms of cost savings on paper purchases. This model has the duplexing unit _standard_ and the whole thing costs only about $400! I haven't spoken with anyone who has bought or used one, but would encourage someone on this list who is buying an inkjet printer for business use to give it a try and report back on how well it works. (I expect this may be more printer than a home model would call for). For more information see: http://www.pandi.hp.com/pandi-db/prod_info.show?model=C6429B (It may take a long time for this web page to load.) Related to this, it used to be that standard "copy/laser paper" was 20 lb. and "inkjet paper" was 24 lb. Recently I've seen ads with these two reversed. Seems odd. E-mail: BNordman [AT] LBL [DOT] gov ------------------- Excerpted from the Advertising column by Stuart Elliott in the 10/25/99 New York Times (front page of the business section): DESPITE THE INTERNET, DIRECT-MAIL MARKETERS GROW EVEN MORE PROLIFIC Though unwanted e-mail advertising is now also a pesky problem for many people, the traditional paper form of advertising mail, known as direct mail, is flourishing. Last year, 44 percent of all pieces of mail handled by the U.S. Postal Service were direct mail - that's 87.2 billion pieces of direct mail. The percentage of direct mail was only 41 percent a decade ago and 32 percent in 1978. According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), the industry's trade organization, direct mail generated $421.2 million in sales last year, an increase of 8 percent from $390 million in 1997. Many direct mail marketers do what's known in the industry as "data mining" to collect, over time, information on consumers. They then market products and services to these consumers, based on their interests and demographics. But privacy advocates complain that data mining is insidious, the marketing equivalent of strip mining. "You have to fight back," says Bob Bulmash, president of Private Citizen Inc. in Naperville, IL, an organization that battles the excesses of direct marketers. "Keep your name and phone number off all documents, as best you can. Don't fill out sweepstakes cards. Don't subscribe to magazines; buy them on the newsstand. Don't list your address in the phone book." The DMA does operate a Mail Preference Service for those who wish to get off of most national mailing lists. To date, about 3.4 million people have registered with this service. Note: For information on the Mail Preference Service, see the DMA website at: http://www.the-dma.org/topframe/index5.html Click on "How to Get Off a Mailing List." - end -