The rapid development of technology, particularly information technology (IT), has changed people’s behavior and the way they conduct their everyday activities. In establishing an office, for example, it is not enough to have only desks, chairs and computers. Serious attention must also be paid to digital technology.
Certainly, it is not just a matter of style as thanks to the latest technology, every job, be it strategic or routine in nature, becomes easy to do. With the help of sophisticated office equipment, you can be not only cost-efficient but can also enjoy optimum results.
Close observation will show that office equipment is not free from the digitalized trend: from data storing media (for example, a flash disk) to an office that can be easily electronically adjusted and from a clock-in machine to an electronic blackboard and a video conference medium.
Another trend is multifunctional products. A photocopier, for example, is not simply used to make photocopies but is geared toward a multifunctional product. Likewise with a facsimile machine, which often has a scanning capability. There is a tendency to want to do things efficiently and effectively so that these days a photocopier is smaller in size and often has a facsimile facility and can at the same time be used to print and scan.
The latest generation of HP printers even has an online printing machine. The Print 2.0 has a sleep mode that reduces the consumption of energy.
According to Herbert Koeck, vice president of Commercial Printing, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Asia Pacific, this new product also relies on Instant-On technology that will make a printer work quickly from the stand-by mode. HP Instant-On Copy can increase productivity by means of making it easy for a user to quickly scan and copy. “This method significantly reduces the time it takes to scan and copy. We do not use a fluorescent tube that requires time for heating,” Kompas quoted him as saying.
From the side of hardware and software, Print 2.0 products can be set into an online printing network system. It can even be used for online Print on Demand (POD) at small and medium levels. With a good quality printer, you could start an online printing shop in a number of cities in Indonesia. You could take orders for the printing of business cards, brochures, photographs, old books and other printed goods.
The superiority of a company like this is that it can take instant orders in small quantities. A consumer can place his order for printed goods online from anywhere. Close observance shows that the Print 2.0 could help a person start up an online printing business. This business could rival competitors in the conventional printing business, the type of business that requires an investment of hundreds to billions of rupiah, compared to a minimum investment of Rp 5 million. (Burhan Abe)
The Jakarta Post, May 06, 2008
