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Epson's Female Printer
zmcnulty writes "I finished translating the K-Tai Watch (Japanese) article about a new printer in the Colorio line from Epson. It's not only being marketed at women, it was completely designed by 'Team8' - an all-female project team created within Epson specifically for making a printer 'easy for women to use.'
Here is the original Japanese press release." Apparently they've been reading these studies.
Of this article http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/04/133725 9&mode=thread&tid=126 - an all-female designed Volvo. It was only a few days ago. Why doesnt the article reference this?
Posted_on Mar 16, 2004 - 10:52 AM by zmcnulty
Its a printer by women, for women.
I first thought this was just being marketed at women, but no - it was completely designed by Team8, an all-woman project team specifically created by Epson for this project.
More information on what makes a printer female inside.
Seiko Epson will release the Colorio me: E-100, atransportable inkjet printer developed under the printer easy for women to use themeon April 23rd. The printer is officially Open Price, but indicators suggest it should cost around 20,000 yen.
The Colorio me: is an inkjet printer designed by Epsons Team8, an all-woman project team formed specifically for the purpose of creating a printer easy for women to use. It has a handle on the round-style case for transporting.
Its an inkjet style printer, and prints using one ink cartridge with 6 colors. The printer resolution is a maximum of 2880 x 1440 dpi. To confirm what is being printed, it features TV output, and connects to the PC via USB. The size is 256 x 154 x 163mm (W x D x H), and it weighs 2.7kg.
Another feature of the Colorio me: is its ability to connect to cellular phones (with cameras)and digital cameras and print directly- and in addition to SD cards, Memory Stick, and CompactFlash, it supports miniSD cards and Memory Stick Duo when equipped with seperate adapters.
Loaded on board is the Cell Phone with Camera Correction mode, and images are printed on glossy card-size photo paper. Pictures taken with a cellular phone can also be printed easily. Finally, infrared and Bluetooth (Ver 1.1) wireless support is available as an option, and when the size and print mode is set via the operation panel on the printer, it can print wirelessly.
In addition, the Colorio PM-D1000 video-deck shaped inkjet printer will be released in May. The price on this one is also Open Price, but indicators suggest it should cost around 40,000 yen.
The PM-D1000 also supports miniSD cards and Memory Stick Duo with seperate adapters, as well as the Cell Phone with Camera Correction mode. It also has wireless (infrared and Bluetooth) support as an option. The size is 430 x 420 x 109mm (W x D x H), and the printer weighs roughly 8.3kg.
Inspired by:
http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/news_toppa
Colorio me: Press Release:
http://www.epson.co.jp/osirase/2004/040316_1.htm
Colorio PM-D1000 Press Release:
http://www.epson.co.jp/osirase/2004/040316_3.htm
you have to remove the space
The unofficial
What are YOU talking about, youngster?
load "windows7"
Actually, this printer makes a great deal of sense in a Japanese context. Its mission in life is to connect to mobile phones, which are overwhelmingly used by and marketed to young women in Japan. (Girl's mobile phone culture is very strange and heavily developed - google "gyarumoji").
Collecting photos of each other is a major social pastime for young Japanese women, there are a number of businesses specialized in this such as the print clubs. Increasingly, print shops are offering printouts from mobile phones. The Epson product seems designed as something that can be taken along on an outing to make prints immediately.
A lot of Japanese electronics for home use are designed to be stored when not in use - so portability, compactness, etc. are important. The concept of a dedicated home office or computer desk is relatively rare.
What Epson has done is design a product very specifically focused on the lifestyle of young keitai girls. These girls are usually *very* tech savvy. So the product is not necessarily "dumbed down", but with a feature set adapted to their needs.