Hewlett-Packard's Inkjet Web Press, which was developed in San Diego, lets publishers customize their content: This printer – a digital Inkjet Web Press designed for newspapers, book publishers and commercial print shops – is bigger than a city bus. Its price tag is $2.5 million. [...]
And for newspapers, it could make it possible to economically print different editions, with targeted advertising, for each ZIP code in a circulation area, or for each neighborhood, or even for each household. [...]
Well, maybe. No newspapers have ordered the press yet, though HP has said that one U.S. newspaper will test the machine in producing 14 zoned versions every day. HP also is testing Web Presses at three large commercial printing and book publishing companies.
Industry experts say it is unclear what business model will work best for large-scale printers in the future.
