Be part of the FLAAR family: as of this week over 24,000 people have downloaded FLAAR reports. In the last 12 months more than 30,000 end users from industry have read the FLAAR web pages; over 144,000 additional people seeking information have read FLAAR information by Nicholas Hellmuth on this web site in a one-year period.
www.wide-format-printers.org had over a million hits last month from more than 17,000 individual readers. More than 200,000 individual people have visited this site since it opened.
Your inquiry survey form will be answered by the FLAAR staff at the university. We will send you all the pertinent reports in convenient Adobe Acrobat PDF format. Since our offices are scattered around the world we can't always telephone you for a follow-up. Also, our staff of 15 people are working on evaluating equipment...or answering your e-mail. Thus to provide additional information on lamination, media, inks, RIPs, and details on printers that are of interest to you, we have found pertinent experts at the leading large format printer trade shows who can answer your questions personally. We have asked them as sponsors if they can take the time to assist you with additional pertinent information. After we ourselves send you the informative tips and help in Adobe Acrobat PDF reports, we will forward your e-mail to the appropriate specialists so they can cover your questions more thoroughly in a follow-up to you. In addition to checking these digital imaging people out at the trade shows we have gone to their main offices to see what kind of technical assistance support they have available. We have made sure they have knowledge of color management so that their follow-up will be of use to assist you.
Manufacturers tend to make the products they decide you will want, FLAAR does it the other way around. We suggest to the companies that instead they should make the products that the end-users need to provide a wide format digital imaging solution in their own office, studio, business, company, or at home. But it takes research to understand what features you seek in a new printer. So when your e-mail lists features that need remedial action, we use this to assist our research program to remind the manufacturers about how to eliminate the occasional glitches in their product, and suggest they spend more money on engineering improved features that actually work for you the end-user, rather than spending money advertising imaginary speeds that everyone realizes their equipment can't really achieve. So now via communicating with FLAAR you can get your point of view expressed in a manner that counts since FLAAR has identified which companies are willing to listen thoughtfully to end user discussions. As you notice we work hard on all of this. Once you get the first batch of reports from FLAAR, most people are impressed by all the effort our university has put into this program. As part of our general research on digital imaging, at some point in the future, when we ourselves have additional questions of you, and when we have fresh new reports to send you in return, we will forward a follow-up survey form in case you wish to get any of the new generation of free FLAAR reports. There is no requirement that you respond, though most people do like to get their hands on factual reports on digital imaging at no price.
FLAAR is acknowledged as the Johnny Appleseed of wide format printers, often the Ann Landers (helping people with their problems), and occasionally the Ralph Nadar (consumer advocate and ombudsman). So this Dialog Form is a great way to simultaneously get your voice heard when your suggestions go to the manufacturer along with Nicholas Hellmuth's personal recommendation that the manufacturer pay attention to end-user preferences. As an example, only one lone printer company offers pigmented (non-fade) ink with a 24" printer. Even most 11 x 17 inch desktop printers lack archival inks. If a factor such as this is important to you, when you express what you need in a printer, this can nudge the manufacturer to offer better inks. So you benefit in many ways when you fill out an Inquiry-Survey Form. First, you benefit by getting back tips, info, help, and factual information from FLAAR itself. Then you benefit again when we arrange follow-up service whereby partners in RIPs, media, inks, printers, laminators, scanners, digital cameras, and digital storage solutions answer your questions personally. And you also benefit as a positive influence on the design of newer, better, faster, more long-lasting large format inkjet printers and related digital imaging equipment. Answering the questions is voluntary; takes about 3 minutes or less. If you have any questions about the study, please send a fax on your letterhead to 419 372 8283. The survey end results are entirely anonymous, aggregate totals; no individual name, no corporate name is in the aggregate total summery.