July 1999, Vol. 10, No. 7
Crap shoot
Three suppliers gamble on new editorial front-ends at NEXPO ’99
LAS VEGAS -- It is about an eight-minute hike from the floor of the Newspaper Association of America’s NEXPO trade show (held here June 14-17) to the nearest gambling hall (the Las Vegas Hilton). For most NEXPO
’99 attendees (estimated at 10,500), that’s how long it took to get from walking to wagering.
But for three newspaper industry suppliers, the gaming was right there on the NEXPO show floor. For Atex Media Solutions Inc. of Bedford, Mass., Digital Technology International of Springville, Utah, and System Integrators Inc. of Sacramento, the dice flew out of the shooter’s hand when the entrance ribbon was cut. None rolled a seven or 11 (which would make them immediate winners); conversely, none got a two, three or 12 (which would make them immediate losers).
They've all got more dice to toss before winners or losers are determined.
Inside, you'll find Senior Editor Pete Wetmore’s assessment of the three new product strategies -- because to a greater or lesser degree, these aren't so much actual products as directions in which the companies are headed.
There are three commonalities about these disparate systems that are important: each supports the eXtensible Markup Language, each supports Adobe InDesign and each is cross-platform. Though widely different in other ways -- it’s almost as if some Greater Force dictated to them to set off in diverse directions -- these are key similarities.
What Wetmore doesn't discuss is the degree of risk each supplier is taking:
What’s more, many big longtime Atex customers -- Newsday, New York Daily News, Seattle Times, Orange County Register, Philadelphia Newspapers, the Murdoch papers in London -- are all to some degree installing new CCI or Unisys systems.
A corollary to this gamble is that industries outside of newspapers will pay any attention to Atex. So, at once, Atex has to win back the hearts and minds of newspapers as well as woo non-newspapers. A daunting task; but Atex has hit a point at which it must throw again (and again).
That’s good news for SII, but bad news for customers. Will this plan play? It could be dicey for SII.
Also inside, you'll get a good look at what the Associated Press has in store for you and your newspaper in the coming months. The cooperative also has chosen a different direction from the past, and Correspondent Marion J. Love gives you the lowdown on the twilight of the AP LeafDesk, GraphicsNet and other AP technologies.
Wrapping up this issue (there will be more NEXPO coverage in August), we have a pair of reports that discuss computer-to-plate and its enabling technology, page imposition software. Correspondents George Powell and Steven E. Brier take thorough looks at where these technologies are and where they're going.
Though the game started at NEXPO ’99, a long wait is in store for Atex, DT and SII before they can be considered winners or losers. Over the next two dozen months, the dice will be rolled many times.
We'll just have to wait to see who makes point and who craps out.
-- David M. Cole
From THE COLE PAPERS, July 1999, Copyright © 1999, All Rights Reserved.