[Anonymous]

File, Print, Frustration: Lexmark survey says Web has great info but it’s a pain to get it ‘to go’
LEXINGTON,
Ky., June 06 — Americans increasingly rely on the Web as a key source
of news and information, but printing from the Web is an exercise in
frustration, according to a survey sponsored by Lexmark International,
Inc.
The survey reveals that while people are accustomed to
turning to the digital world for a wealth of information they still
want to transfer some of that information to paper.
    What People Print: Survey Highlights
 Men
have no problem seeking driving directions — so long as the only”stop”
they have to make is on the information superhighway. Accordingto the
Lexmark survey, 79 percent of men will print out drivingdirections
before embarking on a road trip, compared with the 19percent who say
they would rather stop and ask for help.- When it comes to getting
their news in hardcopy form, there’s good news  for newspapers — for
now.  Seventy-seven percent of respondents saythey still would rather
read a newspaper than download news pages fromthe Internet. The
preference for downloading and printing news from theInternet increases
markedly among younger generations. Of respondentsin the 18 to 34 age
bracket, 28 percent prefer printing their news fromthe Web, compared
with 13 percent of respondents aged 55 and above.- There are no
generation gaps among women when it comes to choosingAmerica’s “most
printable” actor.  George Clooney collected almostthree times as many
votes as runner-up Brad Pitt. Even among women aged18-34, a bevy of
Hollywood ‘It’ boys like Jake Gyllenhaal, Matthew Foxand Terence Howard
(each received 2 to 3 percent of the vote), posed nocompetition to
Clooney’s classic looks- For the most part, Americans are practical
about Web printing. The most common reasons they cite for printing hard
copies of electronic documents are for step-by-step instructions or
directions (55%), for  personal records (46%) and out of fear of losing
the electronic copy  (36%).
 Lexmark Toolbar Solves Web Woes
“The
Web has great information but consumers told us that printing from the
Web can prove challenging,” said Najib Bahous, Lexmark vice president
and president of its Consumer Printer Division, explaining that Lexmark
has developed free software to help consumers solve their Internet
printing problems.
Among the reasons survey respondents said they are often frustrated when they print from the Web:
     – Lengthy advertisements are printed
     – Words or images are cut off
     – Unwanted images are printed
     – Pictures can’t easily be printed separately
     – Paper and ink or toner are wasted
To
alleviate the frustration of printing from the Web, Lexmark has
developed the Lexmark Web Toolbar*. The toolbar makes it quick and easy
for users to print what they need from the Web. With a few simple
clicks, users can:
– Print text only, eliminating ads and other unwanted images
– Print the entire Web page without cutting off images or text
– Print only in black
 – Print borderless photos from Web sites
– Preview their selections before printing

[Author]

June 30, 2006 at 12:05 PM