It’s the last day for me, though the show still has another day to run. People have been desperately willing this Ipex to be a success, as though it will somehow indicate that we have come through the worst of the recession. By and large I think that it has been a good show. It seems to me that it is significantly smaller than in previous years but the halls have been busy and there has been a palpable buzz to the show that was missing last time around.

Obviously the headlines have been around the new high speed inkjet presses which were previewed at the last drupa. All of these have made progress with most due to enter beta testing later this year and with early installations planned for the start of next year. We’ve learned a lot about the print quality of these machines, and about what types of paper they will work with, but very little about the costs. Most journalists here remain sceptical as to whether or not the market will bear the sort of prices that are being bandied around.
Then again, yesterday I bumped into Bill Baxter, former managing director of Inca digital, who pointed out that a lot of early adopters of digital printing technology buy the kit because they like the idea of digital, of being pioneers, of doing something different, and they don’t necessarily sit down and analyse the numbers.
He’s probably right, given the amount of interest around these machines. It’s certainly clear that we are witnessing a fundamental change in the technology of printing, despite some sceptics here claiming that the print quality isn’t good enough and the prices are too high.
Personally, I need some time to read through my notes and think about what all of this means. The next issue of Spindrift should be out next week, but for now it’s time for me to head for the motorway.