When is the last time you looked at a printer and thought, “WOW!”; in fact, when was the last time you looked at a printer at all?  Chances are, if you looked at one, it was probably only while you were lifting your feet off it, since you stopped using it as a printer two years ago when you discovered it served a better purpose as a footrest.

Why is this?  Home printers used to be the neatest thing since home computers, but have slowly slipped into obscurity and obsoleteness. Until now.

The Seattle-based design firm Artefact recently released a concept product that is functionally somewhere between an iPad and a printer.  This concept, which Artefact brilliantly showcases in a very Apple-esque video, might be exactly what the printer industry needs to revitalize business.

At a first glance the machine doesn’t look so impressive, or so radically different from any printer you’ve ever seen, for that matter.  But once the printing tray flips down and reveals the enormous touch screen display, it’s a whole new world for printers.

A crystal clear menu appears on the screen, giving users a number of different options, such as connecting to a camera, memory card, Facebook, Flickr, and Photoshop (that’s right, Photoshop), to name a few.  A touch on the screen takes users to an image library where they can touch, drag, slide, and swipe photos with their fingers to edit and print them—you can even create collages on the printer and print them, all just by touching the screen.

And then, as if all of this weren’t awesome enough, when you’re satisfied with the image, you swipe downward toward the paper tray and watch as the machine prints exactly what you see on the screen, and at an impressive speed and quality.   The printer concept is called SWYP, for “See What You Print.”

You really have to see it to believe it.

The disappointing news is that Artifact’s concept printer is not one that they are going to try to produce.  The design of the printer is a wild departure from what we expect from a printer, but the machine, beautiful and amazing as it is, does not solve the cost problem of ink cartridges.

It is still exciting, though, to see a company putting such creative effort into rethinking a commonplace item to make it new, relevant, and useful again.  And possibly the best news is that other companies, after seeing this revolutionary new design, will probably start examining other items that have become the victim of boring design and functionality.

Does this mean that we will have touch-screen toasters?  Laser can-openers?  Perhaps.  But any time when companies are competing creatively to improve on old technologies is a great time to be on the receiving end.

About Author:

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback.

Happy Birthday To Brothersoft.com

Thanks For All The Users Who Laugh Heartily & Grow Together With Us. For the 9th Birthday Bash, Brothersoft.com organize this especially for all the Die-Hard Fans who give us the long-term support. You just need to do some simple things and then you will have The Chance to get the 9thAnniversary Limited Edition T-shirts.

All ou need to do is:

1. Click the “Join ”button and tweet the activity news.
2. 2. Follow Brothersoft.com on twitter.

And then you will be considered for this giveaway.
The Winners will be picked at random, so everyone will have the equal chance.

Remember the rate of winning prize can reach 50%.

The prize is the 9thAnniversary Limited Edition T-shirts With Brothersoft.com Logo Sign. Please Pay Close Attention To Brothersoft.com Official Twitter, they’ll Keep You Update About The News Of The Activity & The Winning Prize.

Brothersoft.com is one of the Internet’s top three most popular software download sites. It receives over 70,000,000 daily visitors and 30,000,000 daily downloads worldwide and maintains a powerful presence in non-English-speaking markets. Brothersoft.com also publishes insightful news articles and timely, professional reports on the software industry.

To learn more information about it please refer to Brothersoft.

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