Digital BW, The Print

12/9/05 10:02 AM: stevekale@... (Steve Kale) apparently typed...
>I must say I find the licence perfectly sensible.  Else we could simply rent
>one out to anyone who wants it.  Then there wouldn't be anything to rent
>because nobody would invest the capital to develop it.  Then you'd really be
>sucking wind.  These guys sell a complex instrument and very complex
>software serving a very good purpose.  They deserve to earn a fair return as
>a result.  

	Funny, I was just about to ask if there are any photo equipment shops that rent out spectrometers/profilers for print calibration.  I can see that the software license probably limits installation on various machines.  

	It's a debatable issue of whether a company will loose sales on a product if it's rented. It depends on the cost of the product and how often a person would use it. An expensive product that gets used daily is justifiable. But, something like a spectrometer/profiler that gets used rarely by an average user isn't a justifiable expense. There's always a trade-off between the number of rental shops buying products verses average users not buying them. Every other piece of photo equipment is available for rent why not profilers?

	I know there are profiling services that can do it for you. But, one of the reasons I'd want to  rent a spectrometer is so I could learn how to make my own profiles. Another reason to rent is to be able to test out various products before buying one. 
	
	Like most people I remember being disappointed with prints the first time I started using an inkjet printer. Later you're relieved and excited when you discover there is technology available to get good results by using icc calibration/profiling methods. But, then there is the second round of disappointment when you realize the expense of a good profiling system. I'm sure there a many people who are ready and willing to experiment and learn more about profiling but are being held back by expensive equipment. 

	I agree the developers deserve compensation for products. Hopefully, as with other technology, profiling products will become more commonplace and eventually less expensive.
	
	- Den.