Not Your Average "Desktop Printer"

Photo taken by Jeremiah Owyang

Virgin Airlines now has a digital check-in kiosk at the SFO.

What is truly interesting about this new installment is that the white table beneath the touch screens is actually a printer...

In a world where the paperless office is still considered by some to be the future and ultimate fate of the office imaging industry, I find this but one of many telling oppositions to such an idea.

As time moves on and the digital world continues to grow through the plethora of new technologies (namely mobile devices, tablets and similar new age toys) I find it interesting that paper documents persist despite the growing realization that they are truly becoming unnecessary.

I have postulated for some time now that the paperless office is a myth for the simple fact that human beings truly have an intense and emotional attachment to the printed page, especially those of which come from the office culture.

While we are seeing eBook sales surpassing those of "old school" books and many newspapers are either becoming relics of the past or digitizing their content and reducing their printed pages, we find that in the office space emails, invoices, bills, and etc. continue to pile up.

Why is this? I can not help but to assume having a physical document in your hand has some subconscious value to us as human beings. Today words on a screen are available at lightning speeds and can be sent over vast distances but when the power goes out...

You have nothing unless you have the printed page.

In a world where the concept of "the end of days" or the looming possibility of an apocalypse driven by religious deities or the continual destruction of the earth by our own hands is a constant and prevalent idea in the minds of many, I often wonder...

Should a truly earth shattering event steal electricity and technology from you and your business for "x" amount of time, what good will "the cloud" be to you then?

Perhaps those folks who still have a back room full of filing cabinets documenting years of information and data relevant to their business are not so crazy after all.

Perhaps someday in the future the type writer will once again be at the head of the game and the only tablet or pad or you will be using is one made of paper...

Intuition Versus Lack Of Attention

Over the past few years I have heard a lot of commentary about how certain elements of the digital age are causing us to have short attention spans...

Many a guru has suggested that forcing our thoughts into 140 characters or less could be leading to the inability to finish reading a book or pay full attention to longer articles, presentations etc.

While there has been studies (particularity in regards to children growing up in today's world) which suggest that these concepts may be true, I have to wonder...

Are we really loosing our attention spans or is the collective intuition of humanity expanding in response to being supplemented by new technologies and communication mediums?

I am not necessarily suggesting that we are becoming psychic (although I am not saying we aren't) so much as I am suggesting that what is perceived by some as a lack of attention is merely the growth and ability of humanity as a whole to garner more knowledge from smaller portions of recorded information.

While you may not be able to write a thesis paper in 140 characters or less, you could certainly link said tweet to a video that could potentially present the same information and provide equall or better understanding to the audience of the subject matter via linked content.

I think it would be fair to suggest that we as human beings are starting to develop the ability to learn more or rather to garner larger amounts of knowledge and wisdom from smaller portions of the written word, shorter variations of age old stories and information about the world at large.

I can't help but think of Carl Jung's idea of the "collective unconscious" and wonder if perhaps the archetypes are getting restless...

Should this idea hold true, I think it may have some serious implications for our industry. If our collective intuition is growing we may actually get to a point where the printed page is truly unnecessary and yet I ponder, would we choose to stop printing documents?

Would our realization that printed documents are no longer necessary supersede our emotional attachment to paper?

I for one think that the printed page has a strong (albeit practically subconscious) emotional power on people.

In my 6 years in the imaging industry, I have only come across one office (a medical office) that had gone paperless...

Well except for that one laser printer they had on their counter just in case they "needed" to print something...

Indeed, the next decade or two will be a most interesting collection of events to watch unfold. While the printed page may very well be heading towards extinction, I can't help but to think that advancements in recycling technology may cause the use and constant re-use of paper to create more jobs in said industry thus birthing new excuses to keep the printed page simply for the fact that we as human beings, want the printed page...

White Papers, Logos, SOI and (Hyper)Sigils

A while back I wrote a post about the similarities between marketing and magick.

While I think that it is still fair to suggest that marketing is not in and of itself a form of magick, one must consider that clearly, marketing may have it's roots in said craft...

As previously noted, it is certainly possible that a corporation is a physical manifestation of what is known as an egregore. If this odd notion happens to be true, then would it not be fair to suggest that logos are actually a from of sigils?

What about white papers? Are they not merely the corporate equivalent of the hypersigil?

Think about it...

What effect do logos from companies such as McDonald's, BP oil, Pepsi and Coca Cola have on you? What do you feel or do when you see said logos?

Is it any surprise that brands like Kool, Gucci, Bentley, Master Card, etc. Use powerful and ancient occult symbols such as the "vesica piscis" and/or the "winged sun disc" in their logos?

Is the process by which the magician uses to project his statement of intent (or SOI) into the sigil really that much different from the marketing professional who pours hours of the same SOI into creating a logo that will become well known and subconsciously digested by the public?

Is the intent of all corporations and their logos really to help their customers? Is their intent to become a constant in your life one of love and service towards you as the consumer and as the customer or is their intent focused on something else?

Money? Control? Power?

Does the food you eat, the car you drive, the music you listen too, the products you buy every day empower and serve you?

Or do they serve another purpose?

These are excellent questions to ask yourself when choosing from whom you purchase your family's food as much as they are when choosing a managed print services provider for your business...

Sometimes we are creatures of habit and we continue to do things the way we have always done, the way our parents have always done, the way we have just assumed things must be done.

By taking a step back and looking at the products and services we consume, we must ask our selves; are these the best choices we can be making for ourselves? For our children? For our family and friends?

Before you buy your next happy meal, your next tank of gas, your next toner cartridge...

Read the labels and consider the source.

Should you find that certain products that you have been purchasing for years are actually sub-par or in some cases even bad for you...

Ask yourself why did I choose these things? Ask yourself what caused me to make these choices?

Why am I buying what they are selling?

Ask yourself...

Who is really in control of my mind?

My New Book Is Now Available

I am pretty excited to announce the release of my first book (in e-book format only, for now).

"Music, Mischief And Marketing: A guerrilla's guide for the creative protagonist" is a detailed account of my exploits regarding the wild ride which has been my career in marketing.

Part inspirational, part how to guide; the book highlights my own tales in professional marketing adventures while also providing examples to inspire your own creative marketing endeavors.

The book covers topics which include how to leverage social networks as catalysts for thought leadership, how to correctly approach and work within the blogosphere to develop a community of readers and how to use these "new age" techniques in conjunction with old school marketing know-how to produce a powerful brand awareness and various other returns on investment.

Destroy Your Printer Contest 4

I am pleased to announce Expert Laser Services Destroy Your Printer Video Contest 4!

The rules and details of the contest are as follows...

We ask that you make a creative, fun and humorous video of you and your cohorts destroying one of the following: Inkjet Printer, Laser Printer, Copier or Fax/MFP. Then upload the video to youtube and send me the url. At the end of the contest we will choose a winner and the winner will get his or her video posted here on the "Adventures in Office Imaging blog" and they will receive two FREE toner cartridges for their office copier, laser printer, or fax/mfp!

This years prize pack will include two free toner cartridges for a working printer in your office, a $100 dollar donation to a charity/non-profit of your choice, a signed copy of "Return On Influence" and a selection of scented soy candles from Wales Wax Works!

see below for full contest details, rules and regulations!

Rules and Regulations.

Contest starts March 1, 2012.

1. Contest is open to businesses and other organizations in the United States of America, large or small. Contestants may destroy Inkjet Printers, Fax/MFPs, Laser Printers or Copiers.

* We are looking for humorous and creative videos of you destroying your selected piece of office equipment from the above list of machines.

* Have fun but be careful, Expert Laser Services will not be held responsible for any injuries resulting from the making of your videos.

2. To enter the contest, create a video, upload it to youtube and send me the URL via e-mail

nathan.dube@expertlaserservices.com (or twitter @dubiousmonk)

3. Videos will be voted upon and a winner chosen via a public vote here on the blog.

4. The contest ends July 31, 2012.

5. The winning video will be posted here at the Adventures in Office Imaging blog ASAP.

6.Contest winner will receive two free toner cartridges for a working printer in your office, a $100 dollar donation to a charity/non-profit of your choice, a signed copy of "Return On Influence" and a selection of scented soy candles from Wales Wax Works!

Destroy Your Printer Contest In New Book

I am pleased to announce that the destroy your printer contest series has been featured as a case study in Mark Schaefer's new book "Return On Influence".

Here is a description of the content within from the book's website.

"Companies like Klout are slicing, dicing, and dissecting the billions of bits of information published on social media sites each day and grading your ability to create buzz. The most powerful of these new “Citizen Influencers” are being rewarded by companies like Audi, Disney, and American Express with trips, merchandise, and luxury cars. Today, anyone can get behind the velvet rope … if you know how!

Return on Influence is your field guide to the new influence marketing!"

I am excited to announce that the prize package for the "Destroy Your Printer Contest 4" will include a signed copy of the book in addition to some other great stuff!

This book is a must have for anyone looking to gain an edge in the world of influence marketing.

Anybody who orders a book during the pre-sale period (at a special price) will also get an exclusive eBook, The Insider's Guide to Klout, after sending proof of purchase to info@ReturnOnInfluence.com.

Managed Print Services, Spiral Out

The above video is an exposé on how the Fibonacci sequence is present in the composition of the song "lateralus" by the band Tool.

Tool has had a profound effect on me personally, primarily in regards to the music from the album "lateralus".

Much of the lyrical content from this album speaks to the idea of self discovery, embracing the unknown and learning from experiences that reside outside of what is considered common, ordinary or mundane.

These ideas while easy to understand in the context of rock and roll are more complex when considered as guides for behavior in more conservative rolls such as the position of a professional in the corporate world.

While not always easy or acceptable I often try to apply these very ideas to my role as a managed print services professional.

(I like to pride myself on using both rock and roll and said ideas to promote printer repair.)

I wanted to share some of the ideas that I had for my own company that were accepted as well as some ideas which were not accepted as viable options for our brand of MPS in hopes that they provide inspiration to others in the industry. Essentially I am proposing for these ideas to spread laterally or to "spiral out".

Lets take a look at some of the lyrics from the song mentioned above...

"Over thinking, over analyzing,
separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, leaving
opportunities behind."

One reason that we don't see innovation and creativity expand exponentially as a widespread phenomena in all industries all of the time rests within the fact that many businesses and corporations choose to rest on their laurels. That is to say that they choose to use a system of thought that while useful to build and sustain their organization, lacks the dynamic of evolution.

Over thinking and over analyzing leads to shutting the doors on risk and creativity, leading the decision makers to choose an outdated system and re-branding it with a new name to provide themselves with the illusion that they are a forward thinking organization when really they are simply doing the same things they have always done.

This kind of behavior robs the organization of what possibilities and opportunities rest outside of the box which they both sustain and refuse to admit working within the boundaries of...

So what are some ways in which an organization can escape the box and tap into the creative powers that be?

1. Tapping Your Employee Base

In so many business there are untapped resources of brilliance laying dormant in said organization's employees. While most corporations will try to brain storm new ideas with the c-level professionals in their business, it is uncommon to tap the mind of the custodian or perhaps the production crew for ideas in relation to corporate growth, marketing and or sales simply because they don't have the "expertise" necessary to make said decisions.

Tapping into your employee base and asking for feedback on what they think may be good ideas to help grow the company can be an invaluable resource for creative growth. Chances are their is someone in your company who while proficient at the mundane tasks they have be given, have ideas that could send your business into a new level of prosperity.

If your CEO was to ask around and dig into this idea, they may be surprised to find it is the man or woman who has no college education that has the next great idea that your company needs.

I can say this with a certain level of certainty because I have no college degree and built my own career within marketing by asking for it. Due to the fact that the owner and president of my company have not been afraid to take major risks in both creative and "out of the box" ideas, I have had opportunities many folks would love to have but have been denied.

2. Go Further

While I have been able to do some wild stuff here at Expert Laser Services that are ideas no one else in the company would have ever suggested and proved them to be profitable, there are some ideas which have been shot down.

I would like to present my ideas about moving forward in managed print services here but first, let's take a quick look at another set of lyrics from that same song...

"Feed my will to feel this moment, urging me to cross the line.
Reaching out to embrace the random.
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come."

"And following our will and wind,
we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going.
Spiral out. Keep going."

Here are my thoughts on what should be "next" in managed print services...

Augmented Reality Analysis

What is augmented reality? Wikipedia has this to say...

"Augmented reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality."

I propose that augmented reality applications via smart phones could be used in conjunction with video, panoramic photography and the current USB network scanning technology to supplement the physical walk around of a traditional printer fleet analysis.

My argument includes using this piece of equipment to make a three dimensional map of a managed print services customer's business.



While I do not posses all the technical prowess to synchronize each of these technologies to create the application of which I envision, I know there are people who could make this happen.

My boss, while amused with this idea did not decide to look into making this a reality.

While I understand that the budget needed to make this technology available most likely exceeds what funds we have, I know that if I at least present the idea perhaps there are other people who have the funds and other tools necessary to manifest said application.

Some of you who realize the potential of said vision are probably thinking it foolish to share this idea here with the possibility of another organization capitalizing on the concept.

To which my response would be, "go ahead". While I would love to make some form of profit from this idea I would rather see it come to pass by the hands of another in hopes that managed print services as a whole is benefited as I would hope said benefit would be passed on to the customers.

I contend that these separate technologies could be synchronized with services like PrintFleet to allow a virtual collection of data post physical analysis to streamline and improve the continued data collection process as needed in any true comprehensive managed print services/document output management plan.

So if anyone out there can do this and shares my enthusiasm...

Have at it.