Digital BW, The Print

As a longtime (MX80 and FX80 20+ years ago)and committed Epson user
(1270, 3000 and 10000cf now) I understand that decisions regarding what
is packaged with a printer are often driven by marketing departments.
Business is business. 
Perhaps some decisions by Epson in the past ("what orange fade problem?"
or "watermarking" the back of enhanced matte)were marketing driven,
although certainly ill-advised.
I also realize that the small community of "fine art" Epson users is
probably inconsequential relative to the larger community of buyers who
just want to print their digicam images and are thrilled with the fine
quality of the output.
Many (if not most) of this "fine art" group are dedicated amateurs who
do not derive their primary income from this pursuit. This group is
interested in approaching perfection with their prints and will go to
virtually any extreme to do so. We buy and use hardware and software to
create and fine-tune profiles for our printers, spend great amounts of
money on fine paper,  and, yes, even use other-than-Epson inks in our
Epson printers to reach the end result of a "perfect" print.
That said, the new 2200 printer, seemed as if it would be a great
solution for many of these folks. Finally,(perhaps) grayscale prints
with little metamerism (if you don't know what that is, please give this
email to someone in the company who does.)
We have all read the European reviews of the printer and anxiously await
it. 
Now comes the question. Although I don't really care if my 2200 prints
on a CD as does the European version, I cannot comprehend (as the specs
on your site state) why the gray balancer software included in the
European version is not even available as an option here.
Wake up! The people spending $600 for a printer (as opposed to $60) care
about quality. They care about producing grayscale prints. Believe it or
not, they don't care one bit about the Epson Film Factory. Give us the
gray balancer. (put it on the web site..make us download it) Sell us the
gray balancer---I'd pay) 
My guess is that like the chipped cartridges in the 1270/80, etc. (if
you don't know, I can point you to a number of web sites with solutions
to get around the chip to refill the cartridge with 3rd party ink) it
won't be long before friends from Europe who purchase the printer over
there will (out of sympathy) post the Gray Balancer on the web.
Tell your marketing folks that they could generate a bunch of goodwill
if they give us the gray balancer, probably sell some software if that
is the only solution, and prevent the illegal spread of "black market"
gray balancers. Imagine, preventing Epson users from lurking in dark
alleys trying to find a "gray balancer" supplier. The mind is staggered.

Stan Shire
Associate Professor/Department Chair
Photographic Imaging
Community College of Philadelphia
Adobe Photoshop 6 A.C.E.
 
215 751-8320
sshire@...