The hype had been building for weeks about Xerox's substantial breakthrough in the cost of color for the general office. Today at 11:00 AM in Chicago, Xerox broke the news to the workforce that we need to use their solid ink multifunctional systems in order to "save the environment" and save money. I'm all about saving money and creating less waste, so I was excited to see what the hubbub was all about. Late last night, I heard it was their solid ink technology that came with the purchase of Tektronix many years ago.
So, here are a few "did you knows" that I found out:
- The solid ink is held in a molten state, which uses more power than an idle laser printer. A statement from Xerox's Jim Rise, vice president in charge of solid ink, confirms this: "The ColorQube does indeed have to keep its ink heated. Some is kept in a 'molten' state, which means using more power than a laser machine when it's idle." So, I ask, is this something we need in the workplace? Will technicians have to wait for the ink to become solid before they work on the device? What about the waste solid chunks? Where do they go?
- From what I remember, users can't make notes on the image with either a pen or pencil because of the polymeric resin. Does this still hold true for the ColorQube? You see it all the time in the office—paper documents are marked up with notes and scribbles. Will I not be able to scribble on my prints or copies anymore?
- Another memory is that when folding color pages with full color, the image may crack and peel. I'm about to mail and fold some brochures—will the ink crack?
- I'm impressed with the ability for the paper drawers to accommodate 80lb cover paper—very nice.
- I also love the embedded help videos, but why do we need an illuminated paper path? Is it a long paper path, or is it hard to remove jammed paper? Or is it illuminated because the system may jam more often? Could it be that the paper is harder to remove than a laser multifunctional system?
I'm just playing a little devil's advocate here—what's the big deal if there is no savings or I only save four percent a month? Go ahead and take a trip to Xerox's cost-saving calculator. Put these numbers in: 10,000 for total volume, 20% for color, your current color cost is $0.08 per page, and your current black cost is $0.01 (for SMB, this could be a real scenario for them or for a workgroup). When the calculator asks to "choose color," enter 100% for expressive color. Select the enter key and Xerox will tell you there is NO savings for this scenario!
So, I tried another scenario. Everything was the same as above except at the last "choose color," I entered 90% for Expressive Color and 10% for Everyday Color. I hit the enter key and my savings was $10 per month! So, for my $10 savings, what do I get? A system that has a slow First Copy Out Time of 8.1 seconds compared to competitors that are at or under 6.5 seconds, molten ink in the office, copies and prints I may not be able to mark up, and the possibility of color pages that may crack or peel when they are folded. Plus, after you run the calculator, there is a disclaimer from Xerox stating that these are representative prices and may not be applicable in your area.
Now, onto the money question: who, what, or how determines the difference between "Useful Color, Everyday Color, and Expressive Color"? Is this done with software embedded in the unit? If it is, what's the breakpoint between the three different tiers? Will the ColorQube alert you before you press the print or copy button and tell you which pricing plan your copy or print falls under? I think not. Will the system at the end of the month print a report stating how many pages fell under the different pricing tiers? It's kind of like Xerox is saying, "Go ahead, make the copy or print, and trust us, the software will put you in the right pricing spot." Xerox shows samples on their site; however, wouldn't it be nice if the machine told you in advance?
Here's a neat video that was posted on the P4P Hotel today in reference to solid ink. Take a look—it's very cool and gives some insight into the things you may not know about solid ink.
I'm not sold yet if this will be a game-changer. With print-for-pay pricing coming in at under $0.005 for black and $0.05 for color, I see further erosion of cost per page pricing in the mainstream office. I guess you would have to be a big user of a little bit of color to make this work for you. We'll see, right?