Dr Joe's Printing Industry Blog

A discussion of printing industry profits is the latest "Data-to-Go" release, available at the e-store
http://drjoe.stores.yahoo.net/prinshandpr.html

Got a note on my blog the other day about the Excel bug, suggesting I try online spreadsheet program EditGrid http://www.editgrid.com/home It failed the test as well. For those who want the latest "score" or who want to try the spreadsheet again, I have uploaded it to http://download.yousendit.com/F1B2CB416BF827CF where it will be available until 12/26/06. Lotus 1-2-3 passed. In total, 14 spreadsheet programs were tested and only 9 passed. The final tally:
602PC Suite = PASSED
Ability Office = FAILED
EditGrid online spreadsheet =PASSED
Evermore Office spreadsheet = FAILED
GNUmeric open source spreadsheet = FAILED
goBeProductive Suite = PASSED
Google online spreadsheet = PASSED
Lotus 1-2-3 = PASSED
OpenOffice/StarOffice = PASSED
Softmaker Planmaker = FAILED
Thinkfree online spreadsheet = PASSED
WordPerfect Office Quattro Pro = PASSED
Zoho online spreadsheet = PASSED

Good B2BOnline article about how traditional media still lead among consumers
http://btobonline.com/article.cms?articleId=30166
According to the survey of more than 300 online shoppers, more “traditional” holiday gift-idea sources such as window shopping (46%) and catalogs (45%) still beat Web sites (32%), online advertisements (15%) and e-mails (14%). Going directly to the source (for instance, asking the recipient what they would like) (67%) is what most survey takers planned to do. “What really surprised me is that this was an online sample—these are people who are doing their buying online,” said Scott Bailey, exec VP-strategy at Targetbase. “I expected that they would prefer online, but they don’t.” ... Bailey said that catalogs are on the rise, but changing drastically. “These aren’t the 1,000-page Sears behemoths anymore,” he said. “They’re kind of sexy now.” He said that L.L. Bean’s catalog has a mountain-climbing story in it that’s written by a company employee. If the reader wants more information on the climb, they are directed to the Web site. “They’ve achieved the goal,” Bailey said. “The Web site is where the purchases take place. It doesn’t matter how people get there. Catalogs aren’t out of vogue; they simply serve a different role than they used to.”... To Bailey, the lesson to direct marketers from the survey is that “the old channels don’t get thrown away,” he said. “No matter how many new channels get created, they all need to be integrated and used.”

I've always wondered what the differentiation is between online print businesses. One may be the kinds of files that they accept. According to the Kim Komando computer newsletter..."Lulu, iUniverse and Cafepress are three print-on-demand services that can create your book. Lulu and iUniverse accept Word files. Cafepress requires a PDF file. Prices vary, depending on the number of pages and the binding selected." Last I checked, Blurb.com did not accept Word files.

Funny headline on a computer site re: MSFT Vista
"Vista won't be worth buying until after the first 500MB service pack"

Inflation distorts our perceptions about all types of historic events. One of my favorites is movie hype about how much a certain picture did over a weekend and whether or not it was a record first weekend, etc. etc. This page lists the top movies on an inflation adjusted basis and puts many things in perspective.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
Titanic is considered the biggest grossing movie of all time, at $600 million. Sorry, it's actually #6, with less than half the revenue of Gone With the Wind. Also ahead of it are Star Wars, The Sound of Music, The Ten Commandments, and E.T. Last year's top movie, Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest is #44 on the list.