Digital BW, The Print

D. Brooks wrote;

"However, I think Epson¹s strategy is to over-engineer their products and
 maintain very high manufacturing tolerances applied to both consumer and pro
 product lines. The result of this is a very low rate of repair returns, and
 in many cases instead of repairing a printer Epson just replaces it. This is
 an effective cost control strategy that has been adopted by many
 manufacturers involving a lot of different digital photography products.
 Most of these companies learned early on customer support and repair could
 eat big holes in profits.

 Regarding your remarks about how frequently new models come out, I learned
 something interesting about how Epson (and I imagine other companies)
 function. I had reviewed a new Epson Perfection consumer scanner, and not
 too long after my report was in print (the lead time from when I get a
 product to test and review until its in print is four months), some readers
 were reporting the scanner was in short supply."

With all due respect to your experience, and contacts David, "over-engineer??????". Then how does one explain the HUGE supply of "refurbished" printers on the market. In certain cases I would suggest that they outnumber the number of new units available (talking about the consumer/prosumer market here . . . I include the 1280 and 2200 here). Which in turn suggests a hit or miss strategy on behalf of Epson, not over-engineering. Let us not forget that these things have been designed to be put together in literally seconds, with virtually no outlay of wages. As to the issue of finding out a "newer" model is on-line even before you have uncrated the little darling you just bought . . . this has been a malady of consumer electronics since the Japanese took over the market (I am looking back to the earlier years of home electronics here . . . stereo I believe set the "pace"). All too frequently, there is very little upgrade or improvement to warrant another investment in the new model year. More often than not it is simply some addition of bells and whistles with the marketing mavens knowing full well how so many computer/techno geeks drool over their magazines . . . the competition to have the "latest", the "fastest", the "bestest" (I know it is bad English, but that is about the intellectual level of your geek-head-gotta-get-new-computer-head), they sucker in those in "the know" and the media, and off go the lemmings to their nearest dealer.

Finally, I believe Claude's remark really hit the nail on the head "$5,000 a gallon ink". The average consumer/prosumer probably won't go to great effort to look for a reasonable (and in the case of Lyson, MIS, etc) better solution for the ink costs and viability. Epson, like HP, Canon, etc is in the business of manufacturing "addicts" . . . give them the printer for a few bucks, and we will rape them continually for the next few years on grossly overpriced ink cartridges. Three years later (at the absolute most), stop supporting the product, screw the customer, and let's start all over again . . . after all, it is progress, no?

While I don't miss the chemical darkroom (actually I really do miss the tranquility), it was miles beyond the computer field in terms of "continuance?" (can't think of a better word). I use Epson printers. As I remarked a while back I bought a couple of cheaper units to try out the idea of BO and FIS printing before I committed to a 4000. I am damned if I am going to drop the price of a good shooting vacation (which will bring me money AND satisfaction) until I am satisfied that it has something to offer me that will last longer than the "next rainbow".

never a fool, and always watch where I step
Paul Aparycki






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