Digital BW, The Print

--- In 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "mark_gatehouse" 
<mark_gatehouse@y...> wrote:
> 
> > Don't buy it then. 
> 
> Well, if we had known this 18 months or so ago
> we wouldn't have...
> 
> We have three wideformat machines in a major museum
> and archives on which we have been running IP. But it
> has become such an annoyance we won't be renewing 
> our service contract and are going to different options
> where we can. 

This raises a good point.    It's one thing for those of us who are 
printing as a hobby or for small one-man photography businesses to 
glom onto whatever Mac or linux freeware or shareware we can find, 
or buy products from tiny two-guys-in-a-basement RIP makers or 
quadtone ink makers.  

But if you have a real business or institution like a museum at 
stake it would be good to deal with something more substantive.  In 
all of our discussion comparing BW inkjet to darkroom printing one 
difference that's overlooked is that darkroom technology (paper, 
developer, lenses, etc) is supported by large stable corporations 
and if one guy gets run over by a bus or just quits, the technology 
you've been depending on doesn't just stop. 

Will BW inkjet printing EVER be supported by normal, stable, 
profitable businesses that we can count on to be around and act like 
real businesses for years and years on end?   Or are we always going 
to be one bus accident away from our favorite RIP/driver/ink 
disappearing forever?