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Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
OPI is *NOT* dead! OPI if anything is underutilized. Modern networks (most are still 10/100) are great. Modern computers are great. We have gigabit this, gigabit that. But laser printers are still mostly 10mb devices. Many systems that have a gigabit card can't support that kind of throughput. Never mind the computer on the other end. You have to sit back and look at what it is you are trying to accomplish. You have to take a holistic view of the network and workflow. Is OPI right for everyone? No. Is it *the best* way to do it? Maybe, depends on your environment. OPI is still very relavant in "modern" workflows. Why else do you think RAMPage, Brisque, Prinergy, Apogee, etc. still bundle OPI functionality? If it is so dead then why are Helios and Xinet still in business? If the CIA and Treasury departments can find a use for Helios EtherShare OPI, I think many other people can. There are a lot of other functions besides OPI that these kinds of systems provide. Hell, I have a Helios EtherShare OPI server, web portal, PDF generating queue (via internet no less), color server running on my G3/400 with 256MB of RAM along with my FTP and regular web server running on Mac OS X 10.3.9. And it's not even the server version! The entry point of Helios is around $7,000 for a 5 or 10 user system.
Look, OPI may have taken a step backwards in priority/necessity for prepress. But Elivs has most certainly not "left the building". There is a market for it, there is a place for it. And through careful examination and analysis one can make a case for OPI in many places where you might think otherwise. I'm looking at a couple of shops now. It is a "tough sell" because the effects aren't as immediately seen as I would hope. It has to do with overcoming someones perception of "value". And the real trick to this is the term my good friend and mentor John Dunn came up with; cost avoidance.
All of the above is my own *personal and professional* opinion. I should make it clear to everyone that I am beginning to work with Helios as a tool for my consulting. I hock it, but I don't "sell" it. Heck, I hock a lot of stuff that I don't sell. But I am beginning to work with them because I continue to believe that OPI is useful and relavent. Also, because the time for myself and them is most opportune. I have been waiting to develop a relationship with either Xinet, Helios, or both. And that time is now. ( Okay, last week if you want to get technical :roll:
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