Digital BW, The Print

I think that new HP 7960 comes very close to this.  Yes, only with HP 
inks and papers, and nothing bigger than Letter size, but it's a start. 
  If it makes HP plenty of money, and I think it will, we could see this 
tech move up the line and be adopted by other vendors.

As someone who never used wet process since a few times back in high 
school, I am rather enjoying digital process even with such humble tools 
as a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual II, Photoshop Elements, and a HP DeskJet 
950C.  Just being able to create a print, save it to file, and then 
later go back and crank out the same exact print with no effort other 
than "push here dummy" counts for a lot.  I am very much looking forward 
to getting started with quadtones next month when I order the new toys.

Forget the wet darkroom.  Not even gonna start.  Well, maybe soup my own 
B&W negatives someday.  Or maybe not.

Rad

Editor P.O.V. Image Service wrote:

> Perhaps someday an all-in-one printer will do perfect B&W and Perfect 
> color across a range of glossy and matte, RC, cast, and uncoated media 
> for a truly economic price.  But that day is NOT yet, not even nearly, 
> here..  To complain that one printer doesn't  do it all and somehow the 
> vendors are therefore failing is  a tad ridiculous..
> 
> It's like the arguments about the cost of PhotoShop and how printer X 
> takes 10 minutes for a print. Sometimes we all need to step back and 
> compare how mush faster, easier, and cheaper it is than the wet darkroom 
> (and how  much newer this workflow/process is - progress has been 
> staggering over what is really as short timeline).  Otherwise, we all, 
> myself included, risk soon becoming just truculent whining complainers 
> with little perspective on the big picture.