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Pricing and Fade-Resistance Figured Out

Kodak recently introduced two inkjet printers to their All-in-One lineup: ESP7 and ESP9.  The announcement came nearly six months after they released the ESP5.

As a draw-in, Kodak claims these printers give us the lowest ink prices in the industry.  This is just like every printer they have ever put out, even going back to the first ones in 2004.  Even in 2007, when Kodak put out its first inkjet, they were singing the same song.

Ink: Cheap prices or cheap quality?

Last year, David Pogue wrote an article for The New York Times revealing calculations that HP black prints cost a tenth of a cent less.  I guess that was before these new and improved machines and ink were introduced.

We should question the quality to the ink.  In 2004, Wilhelm Imaging Research (WIR), print performance tester, proved Kodak’s fade resistance to 11 years.  At the same time, Kodak, having performed their own tests (accused of being much less realistic), was claiming a 162 year life on images.  Do we chalk this up to Kodak being a baby in the market at the time and now they have more experience under their belt?

Still, if Kodak does not watch it, with such a history, they might find themselves right up there with the boy in the kids’ story about the boy who cried wolf.  I hesitate to believe their claim for the lowest ink prices - maybe if they would say among the lowest or in competition with the lowest.  But then they might lose business from the naive few who buy into the sales pitch.  A promise is a promise.  What happens when promises are broken?

Making changes

It seems Kodak has made some changes and redeemed themselves.  At the beginning of 2008, WIR tested Kodak’s AiO products then and stated, “the Kodak’s Easyshare AiO printers and ink achieved the highest level of overall print permanence of any current consumer desktop printer system.”  WIR says Kodak prints should now last over 125 years. 

QualityLogic also tests for Kodak, focusing on making good on the Kodak promise of having the best, most inexpensive ink.  QualityLogic affirms the claim that “consumers can save up to 50% on everything they print compared with similar consumer inkjet printers.”

How Kodak’s technology works

The secret to it all is Kodak’s own Kodacolor Technology.  The Kodak claimed results are supposed to happen with the combination of Kodak ink cartridges, Kodak paper, Kodak’s color and image science, and a print head technology vastly different than the competition.  From my understanding, the basic gist of it is that the ink is made with pigment instead of dyes like the competitions.  The pigment broken down in a milling process which then is able to pass through the very small hole of the ink cartridge.  The five color contains black, cyan, magenta, yellow and a clear coat.  The ink soaks into the paper while the clear coat remains on top as a protectant, aiding in the longevity of the print. 

That handles the fade-resistant issue and may give us a slightly cheaper cartridge cost, but the real cost savings for the cartridge comes from the print head being moved out of the cartridge and into the printer itself.  Unlike competitors who include that bit of technology in every cartridge, Kodak saw it unnecessary for us to continue paying for something that we could only pay for once. 

Kodak noticed a place in the market that needed improvement and stood claim to being the one to overcome.  Their proclamations were probably years too early, but they may have finally gotten it.  I might be sold enough on it to give Kodak AiO a chance.