A silicon valley startup called Presto has quietly launched a new service aimed at people who don’t currently have Internet access, but want to be able to receive emails and photos from loved ones. It combines a special printer produced by Hewlett Packard with a web service that sends data to the printer over a normal phone line - no need for internet access or a computer.
Featured prominently throughout the Presto website are pictures of happy old people receiveing photos from (younger, presumably tech savvy) loved ones. My guess, based on those ubiquitous pictures, is that old people are the target demographic for the Presto service.
Teasing aside, Presto looks like a pretty cool service for some people (possibly the parents and grandparents of TechCrunch readers). The printer costs $150. Take it out of the box and feed it electricity and a normal phone line. No need for broadband internet service. You are assigned a special @presto.com email address, and when someone sends photos or other content to that email address, it prints out on the printer. The old person user simply takes it off the printer and looks at it. We’ll be getting a test version of the printer and service and will post a more lengthy review after a hands on experience.
The service itself costs another $10 per month, which is where Presto makes their money. HP makes their money off of the ink cartridges that people will buy after using the service.
I do have a spam concern. It’s a pretty good bet that spammers will be sending mass emails to %@presto.com, knowing that a hard copy will be printed out and delivered to the end user. I’m sure Presto will have filters in place to deal with most of this. But I also wonder if Presto’s incentive to sell advertisers the right to send a limited amount of “special offers” to Presto users will become too great to ignore over time, perhaps in exchange for a free or reduced price account. We’ll see.
Presto is backed by Kleiner Perkins and Clearstone Venture Partners.
Update: I should have done this before, but I dug into the potential spam issue a little more. You have to be an accepted sender for the printer to accept the email, so unsolicited spam will not be printed. However, to access the user account to accept/reject friends requires a computer, so I guess a family member or friend will help them with account maintenance if they don’t have one.
Comments
Oh my, the kind of spam granny will get on this - I can only imagine. Although, Viagra ads may be more relevant :D.
Seriously though, that’s a valid concern, hopefully Presto has a really impressive spam filter. People won’t be too happy when porn spam starts printing out in their living room.
Heh, funny article
I think it’s an interesting idea but you are totally right about spam. I love that lady you have a picture of - she’s on the web site like 100 different, always looking amazed at the pictures coming out of her phone line.
You’ve got goatse!
I would be pretty upset if Presto sold my e-mail. Not only the nuisance, but the fact that my EXPENSIVE HP ink is being wasted on spam.
Grandma gets excited. A new picture of little Jimmy is on the way. The printer begins to print.
Oh no. It’s a message from Fidelity. Grandma’s brokerage account has been deactivated due to suspicious activity. Thank god for Presto. Grandma can now call a phone number and get her account reactivated by providing some account information to the Fidelity customer service agent with a funny accent.
And what perfect timing. The printer starts printing again and grandma’s reactivation of her Fidelity account couldn’t have come at a better time. There’s a hot little energy company in Nevada that’s just ready to explode on the Pink Sheets exchange and with a call to her broker she can purchase 2 million shares at only 5 cents each!
Little Jimmy’s photo finally arrives and grandma can’t help but thank Presto for making technology a part of her life. Not only can she watch as little Jimmy grows up so fast, but it looks like grandma will be able to put him through college when ABC Energy goes to $5/share.
Read Closer, mate. Presto only prints messages from your address book. Unless Jimmy is a spammer himself, or little Jimmy’s computer has been hijacked (both unlikely), this scenario does not happen.
A bigger issue is trying to explain to grandma what ‘PC Load Letter’ Means, and how to deal with a paper jam.
must be another spam monster……a good way for spam…in fact, the idea is idealised facing this true world…I got more than 500 spam in my yahoo mailbox almost everyday….HP will be happy with that…500 pritng a day….they got the way for selling their ink cartridges and printing paper…
I wonder how spam mails are going to look like on the thing
hum…if I were the one to send the spam…I will make it well designed just like movie poster…
Apparently only whitelisted addresses can send email to the printers so spam is not really an issue.
http://www.presto.com/wip_features.aspx
“Presto Friends - Create a list of friends who can send you email, so there is no spam, no ads, no junk.”
Spam is not an issue with Presto because it is permission-based. Each account has a “Friends List” where you enter email addresses for the people who are allowed to send mail to the box.
I was an early beta tester and I have nothing but good things to say about it. It’s a great service with a worthy goal and a rapidly multiplying target demo.
Yeah, I just found that and updated the post above. I’m not sure how grandma will accept friends if she doesn’t have a computer. I guess a family member can do that for her. If she does have a computer, I’d imagine she could figure out how to hit the “print” button all on her own, without the need for presto.
Yeah, Mike I think the idea is that someone purchases the unit and subscription for their parent/grandparent and then sets up that access information, which you can change at any time.
They have also done a good job of creating an area where that administrator can monitor the unit’s activity from connection times down to ink and paper levels. I’m in the west and my parents are back east and it has been very simple, much easier then the TiVo support calls I get from them
Yup…Michael, you are right, this is what i gotta asked… it’s hard for a grandma to filter her friends or fmaily memebers, although her family memebers could do it for her, but how about her long lost friends? the permission is not the final way to solve the problem, it ’s another tip.
Another question is, will Presto send the ad via their service? this is a good way for them to make money, I believe they would not do so…
In another hand, this service is a kind of network, maybe not the social network but the network, more people knwo the service, more printers will be sold…will Presto jsut stand on the premission base?
As Michael mentioned, in case of grandma could configure the white list. She might be able to blog or sending email.
I got an idea for them to solve this problem…but would not tell them. haha
how is that better than a fax machine with a simple email-to-fax service (there are dozens of them…) ?
please explain.
Photo printing and customer support are the differences. The ability to respond is lots with Presto, however.
The idea is brilliant.
As it has already been detailed on the post, how Presto deals with the problem of facing _spam_. Michael’s comment clarifies again.
Presto can also add the functionality to send a reply (may be a photo from granny, etc).
This product may also be helpful in very tight - security corporate environments - where one would want a seperate, inexpensive private option for correspondance that would NOT be on the network.
But in terms of the home experience….
The irony of this is that one could just get a color automatic fax / phone system and connect it to their phone line - and only tell a few friends they have an alternate fax -
since people can also send emails that convert to faxes, it would not really be that different of an experience
The title and picture of this post is priceless =)
Hey everyone!
Presto invented the Fax machine!
If this takes off, it’s brilliant that Presto could remarket such a device… and manage to sell subscriptions to boot!
Go capitalism!
LOL anyone who is talking about how you could just set up a fax and use an email to fax service instead just doesn’t get it. You have been so jaded by geekdom that you can’t see something good right in front of your face. And that is ok, this isn’t your realm. But if you would spare the rest of us from your obvious Radio Shack work arounds it would be much appreciated. We understand that there are many ways to do one thing, we are not as simple as you think.
This seems to be a simple service targeted very specifically for a reason. You are not that target.
I feel that a printer (yeah it costs only $150
) might be an overkill for receiving e-mail. And above this you have to pay for the service and the ink cost. I think they should give the printer on a rental basis or free of cost and charge slightly more for the service or have ads. Either have a slightly higher subscription charge or have a lower subscription charge and print ads.
This can be a brilliant option for advertisers to push local advertising. Send coupons and messages which can be used in a radius of around 10 miles. I think something like a travel plan email can have an ad from a travel agency in a nearby area. But, privacy concerns might be an issue here. Actually, Presto can have an option in which people can say that they are ready to receive ads of certain things and wouldn’t entertain some others. And then the ads will become more meaningful to the advertiser and the receiver.
I am also wondering how different this service is from a email to fax service. Maybe it is easier to send to an email address.
P.S: That picture is really nice.
Just to address the questions about ad push. Non-photo content like article and ads are currently treated as subscriptions in the “Presto Newsstand” section of the admin site.
There are catagories such as “Home & Garden”, “Travel”, and “Crosswords & Puzzles” with individual sponsored and non-sponsored digests inside. Most follow a pre-defined delivery schedule and tell you how many pages they contain. As an example inside of “Crosswords & Puzzles” there is a “Sudoku” digest that will be 1 page delivered 7 days a week if you subscribe to it.
All of this content is currently opt-in only.
Um - I’m obviously missing something here - why not just send your beloved relative a letter? A little slower, but much much cheaper.
Seems like a pretty feasible replacement for mail. Priced well within range of “Christmas present” also for grandparents.
They just need an “Accept” button on the printer for new senders (so they dont need to go to the website to configure their accept list).
Anyways, great find. I’d totally get one of these for my parents who are on dialup anyways, and rarely check their email.
Between this and Old Glory robot insurance, I know what Grandma’s getting for Christmas: http://youtube.com/watch?v=L3sLE-Jk0rw
Welcome to Web 0.5: the fax machine!
I know a little about this service and it’s better than a fax because it’s an all-in-one solution. You plug the thing in for the non-techy, someone who is tech savvy then manages the whitelist of addresses and even gets notified when the ink is running out so they can replace the ink for the non-techy (because do you really want grandma having to futz with ink catridges?). It’s a simplified solution to a big problem.
Why not send a letter? Convenience. E-mail is way more convenient. That’s why the post office is raising stamp prices and considering dumping many mail boxes around the country.
To all the geeks around here - this is a great service and am sure it will fly. Just think of many times you send your friends a letter with an update on your life. Well, right now your family members without email are excluded from that.
This is a simple fax-machine, preferably one that doesn’t give you PCL ERROR messages.
Spam and allowing unknown senders to email you isn’t really an unsolvable problem. If someone not on your friends-list sends you a message, presto.com will send a message back saying they are not on the list and if they want to apply to be on the list, they should call XYZ number. Call center in India then amalgametes all the people who want to get in touch with your granny and then give her a call once a week at a preset time. They will read a message to Granny saying a reason why the people want to get in touch with her and recommend to her whether they look like spammers or not. Alternatively if granny doesn’t remember them, she can ask the service representatives to release her mail address or phone number to the person. Then they can contact her offline first to confirm their identity and intentions…
Whatever - these are details. The big idea is great! Think about the aging society in Europe.
Actuall, when I come to think of it:
I wonder who is going to be the first printer or modem company to release a small black-box modem device that will give you USB port to plug into any cheap printer. Then you won’t be stuck with HP cartridges and presto network.
Second movers certainly have a huge advantage in this market.
why not just buy a fax machine? much cheaper. no spam.
I just wonder, how this idea can sell? I mean, why do you need other extra devices, if you can teach ur grandpa how to use a computer to receive email. It not only improve the relationship between ur grandpa and u, also helps them to improve their lifestyle. They now have more things to play with.
“why not just buy a fax machine?”
Dear granny, here is a photo of your new grandchild.
(Pixellated black blob)
IMHO, this only works if requires absolutely zero maintenance, for that to be true, it needs to get rid of ink cartridges in favor of a standard-3-colors-pen driven plotter.
and what about adding scanning capabilities?
it will allow the old lady to reply with a paper photo of herself queeuing in the bank to pay the $10 monthly bill sticked with cellophane to a lovely hand-written letter…
Why not just have a phone line into the television. Then another ‘box’ in the house is not needed.
Michael - you note “quietly launched” - if quietly launched is about 100202942 infomercials, than everything is quietly launched
If you happen to catch the advert, it really screams to old people to buy it - whether its useful or not, i am sure getting pictures from your loved ones is a good salespitch.
Besides the ink cartridges, I’d be worried about paper jams and other technical difficulties. I don’t think my 70-year-old mother-in-law would be able to handle it. My 60-year-old parents, however, would drop kick Presto out of the park. They’ve got five PC’s between the two of them.
I upload our photos to a photo printing service and them mailed directly to my mother-in-law. Higher quality and no stress on her part.
Guys, all people must know how to change a lightbulb (or have someone who does it for them), so they must surely be able to change print-cartridges.
Problem with showing stuff on TV is well, that you need that TV to see it. Standard paper rules, look where those eBook readers are now - seen anyone reading book on his PDA recently ?!?!?…
Majority of old people won’t learn the basics of OS just to check their email. Sure, they got lots of time, but it’s simply not a priority for them. How many 60+ have you seen with iPods? Compare it to those that you’ve seen listening to plain radio in their home and that should make you realize the size of Presto’s market.
Give it a few years, appliances like this will be ubiquitous and probably available for free (same principle as with cell phone plans).
Interestingly the worlds first color fax machine was invented in 1946 and also retailed for $150.
http://blog.modernmechanix.com.....hine-1946/
Brother also sells a color fax machine for $110, but I really don’t know how good the quality would be. I didn’t even know there were color fax machines.
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-.....B00067JAS0
“Email. It’s not just for those young whippersnappers.”
Very good idea, this will work in many context and has huge potential in developing countries.
and every now and then occassion for photo sessions.
Let’s take example of India where there are 13 festivals in 12 months
In my personal case : my family can print using the printer instead of getting the photo printed from outside.
Another case : As I am staying away in London, so instead of me uploading the photo to some Indian order-to-print photo site, I can uplaod it it Presto and get it printed in my home
ahha but presto is still in US…. the idea can be explored by existing players in India such as Picsquare.com and others.
As someone who’s parents have not crossed over to the connected generation (no matter how many times I’ve set up a computer for them) - the Presto service offers a really elegant solution to letting my folks experience what those of us who are over connected do every day. It has let me and my siblings better fit them into our life’s and how we communicate. It is really easy to see something on the web and email them the page or to send some goofy photos from the kids. Just sending them a reminder about an appointment is great. It does create some implied responsibility to send them something with some regular frequency - I still remember the Cieva-guilt when I hadn’t sent my mother-in-law any new pictures for a few weeks.
We were beta testers and they love it. It dials-out three times a day using a POTS line (how 1980’s!) and picks up messages. The industrial design of the unit is excellent. Remember, this is designed to be ordered by one of us for them - it gets shipped to their address and you want them to be able to set it up. You just stick in a single ink cartridge, some paper and plug it in.
We have not had much experience with the services - though this is an area with a lot of potential and by scheduling a regular email from a 3rd party you make sure they are getting some mail you make them feel connected. Building a feed reader option into their platform is an interesting option for the future. I could see my Mom loving to get specials from the local grocery store or even a daily menu from a favorite restaurant. All of this will become very interesting if they can get a large enough footprint of users.
The whole system works best if someone gifts the Presto and takes charge of administering the account though I believe the have an 800# you can call and they will set it up for you. If your parents are not connected and you are thinking about a gift for the holidays - you should seriously consider a Presto.
More interesting may be a product about to be launched by a company called In View in Sweden. It uses wireless (GSM) technology to receive pictures in the form of MMS messages, which are easily sent from a camera phone, and displays them on a television screen.
Windeye: is there anyone out here who uses MMS? Costs a bit too much for the little benefit. All the carriers were thinking it’s the next big killer app. Like with mobile-videoconferencing or off-board navigation.. I say - just forget it…
Am sure In View will go after all carriers, make up nice charts about increased ARPU and over-optimistic forecasts on user-demand. And all the middle-managers will get excited, because now they can push something that is certainly a killer-app. It makes them look good and who cares if the company doesn’t make money, if they can only get that bonus!
I wonder when shareholders will finally force mobile-carriers to stop pursuing ventures like those…
There’s another service called Celery (http://mycelery.com/) that does the same thing, but it’s bi-directional.
Here’s a funny commercial featuring a grandma.
Cool service, funny commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40EtjCu3fpE
As a few others have pointed out, it sounds a lot like… a fax machine.
It brings back memories of 1991, when I would get 6-8 faxes per day from brokerage firms (mostly Drexel Burnham) of the infamous “Scud Missile Launcher” camel cartoon.
Anyway, as someone who tried to get a parent to use WebTV a few years back, with limited success, this does sound like a decent offering for sharing emails, photos and perhaps jokes.
Of course, one-way communication is somewhat limited, but for sending the grandparents the latest pictures of their grandkids, it’s a decent option (and less expensive than Ceiva).
This is a great idea, and will prove to be a wonderful service that will have 500,000+ users by 2012 (and no; I don’t work for the company, wasn’t a beta tester, nor have any conection/s w/them)…will gladly sign up once my parents reach that point.
…does generate a humerous image ala’ those commercials for personal alarm systems, tho’…
“Help! Help! I’m out of ink and I can’t get up!”
Save $150… paper… ink… and service costs.
Go with pen and paper… or maybe even get grandma a cell phone… and call her.
Thanks for the update Michael, that makes this pretty much useless then.
Interesting concept I guess…what happens when grandma tries to stuff a reply back in to the printer? I’d love to see an 80 year old try to figure out a paper jam. PC Load Letter anyone?
1999 all over again!
Take your money and run!
How does it answer the phone - like a fax machine, do you set it to automatically answer after x amount of rings? And does it work/interfere with an answering machine?
This a nice little niche area; I think it is cool how this company is revitalizing the fax market, but I would be seriously concerned about the shelf life of this company. As soon as Generation Xers and Yers start becoming the old people I don’t think their business model will hold together much.
If this lasts at least 5 years thats fine with me. I would purchase this for my grandmother in Florida, she does not own a computer. Though I think she would be too afraid to buy this herself so I couldnt buy this unitll I go to visit.
I’d say provide older users the opportunity to try a computer (with appropriate training (see my link)) first. Many older users struggle at the onset, but the expansive world that computers and the internet provides can be an amazing thing in the lives of older users. If after trying, they totally can’t adopt to computers, then this might be a good solution.
The comments on this page are an excellent summary of why “tech guys” are called “tech guys” and paid like “tech guys”, while “idea guys” are the ones in the big office with the overflowing options account.
This is a great idea. It will sell big. It doesn’t matter that you techies call it a fax machine, it only matters that my 93 year old grandpa loves the idea of getting a picture of his great-granddaughter printed for him automatically a couple of times/week.
For $150 + $10/month I can make him a happier person, and give all of his family the ability to drop him a line or send him a picture via the medium they are most accustomed to. It’s a winner.
Oh—and all you nerds calling this a fax machine…try setting up a fax machine in Grandpa’s house….a 2nd line for the incoming faxes, or make him figure out how to have the fax machine on for the incoming faxes, or how to have the fax machine pick up appropriately. Then tell me again how this beats a unit that calls in every night at 3 in the morning to get the stuff he’s been sent.
Why not use a color fax? The new ones have 300 dpi color resolution (adequate for seeing color pictures) and can be used for 2 way communication. Plus there are no monthly charges, and it costs $99 from HP.
This was already in a catalog that came in today (Hammacher Schlemmer). Talk about coordinating your press with going to market.
Great way to get the word out Presto team.
-Larry
In regards to the comments about Presto being a fancy fax machine…..a fax machine gets tons of spam. It’s a waste of ink, and a hassle on the user. If Presto can eliminate all spam and only permit wanted email to arrive and be printed, then they’ve truly surpassed the fax machine.
Two words to those recommending just using a fax machine: Fax Spam.
From Pew/Internet’s “Older Americans and the Internet”:
“22% of Americans 65 and older use the Internet. The percent of seniors who go online has jumped by 47% between 2000 and 2004. In a February 2004 survey, 22% of Americans age 65 or older reported having access to the Internet, up from 15% in 2000. That translates to about 8 million Americans age 65 or older who use the Internet. By contrast, 58% of Americans age 50-64, 75% of 30-49 year-olds, and 77% of 18-29 year-olds currently go online.”
So, there are plenty of oldsters for Presto to tap into for years to come before the 30-to-49-year-olds turn in their Aerons for rockers.
I have been a Beta Tester of Presto for the past few months…When I first heard about it (as part of Clearstone Venture Partners) I though that is too simple of a concept…but I also ask (desperately) if I (my mom) can be a beta tester! Well, my Mom has been a beta tester for a few months now and the experience of getting Mom in the electronic family loop has been outstanding and simple with Presto. For sure Mom is not one to embrace technology, and no way was I going to encourage her to buy a PC as I would become tech support…”How do you do that print thing again?”… Once I got her the Beta unit I had to BEG her to plug in the Presto unit…
Now she loves it and she is finally in the electronic family loop. I have sent her e-mail from my Treo with a real time photos of my family and she loves that (she is in Seattle, I am in LA)
- E-mail White List are created via PC & She can add to the email white list also by calling an 800#
- When I Send her an e-mail with a photo or two, Presto re-organizes the content (Subject, photo(s), Copy) into a great looking newsletter with the photos integrated. I can also set the Presto unit to various Text Sizes so all of moms print outs are easily readable. Presto also has various style sheets (Holidays, Calendars etc).
- As the person who signed her up i get e-mails telling me if there is an issue (low paper, low ink etc) and allows me to even take action like “send her more ink”.
Thanks for clarifying Beta Bob. Does sound like a great service for the non-tech members of the family…
I love it. A solution that makes my interaction with the elderly easier… for me. And shift the burden of correspondence to the recipient, the so-called beneficiary of this “solution.”
No more having to print photos or letters and stuff those pesky envelopes and find first class postage. That’s all for Grandma now, buy paper and cartridges, clear paper jams, figure out how to chain this device between the answering machine (still with the factory greeting) and the life alert box. I hope it doesn’t decide to phone home to download messages when she’s fallen and cant get up.
Disregarding the not insignificant cost of cartridges and paper, if this had a 2 year product life and Grandma received only 5 messages a month, the cost of the service alone (including the cost of the printer) would be $3.25 per message v. $0.39 first class postage. Grandma would have to receive more than 40 messages (more than one per day) to equal the cost of regular mail.
$20 per 260 pages per cartridge means Grandma will be buying anywhere from 1 to 3 inkjet cartridges over that time period, so add another $20-60 plus paper for total cost of ownership.
The Pew study is borne out by my own experience– my late mother in her late seventies was scared to death of technology. If she hadn’t adopted it by the time she was 62, it didn’t exist for her (and she spent her life working for HP in the valley). Not to mention that she was from the great depression generation of thrift and simplicity. She couldn’t conceive of spending more (or even someone else spending more) when something simpler, readily available and nearly-as-good already existed.
I routinely receive emails from my two younger aunts (in their sixties) who are fully connected.
I agree in part with a previous poster that said there is a sizeable market out there– but the demographic that is targeted is the guilt-ridden self-absorbed connected generation who will buy this hardware and subscription for Grandma rather than pick up the phone or send her the photos, or (gasp) drop in for a visit.
@Greatest Generation: right on.
This is a $0-billion market, and one that is in the process of going away at that.
Proof, once again, that Silicon Valley has a nearly perfect track record of solving problems that customers don’t have.
Deadpool.
The idea is … not so novel, truthfully. “Brilliant” would have been a description if this was launched several years ago. But with web services turning to video and audio, this offering is “watered down.”
I guess that’s what the designers wanted. Of my grandparents, one set decided to buy a decent computer to be in touch with their grandchildren. My other set could have been in the Presto category but opted rather to not own a computer — or anything too tech — at all. My husband’s grandparents bought the cheapest computer out there (which cost not much more than the printer itself) to do this and more. They’ve also bought the cheapest Internet access out there, which is only a few dollars more per month.
That puts 6 elderly individuals in my circle far from “Presto people,” so hopefully there is a market for this somewhere else.
I’ve read a lot of the comments but some just don’t make sense….
1. “extra box”. Well, I think the target market actually has NO box (ie no computer or printer) so I really don’t think thats a problem.
2. spam? I think its been covered enough…
3. Fax machine? WHAT?!? Can you tell me the last time you FAXed a picture to your grandmother? What are you thinking. Yes, I guess getting data from a phone line makes some comparison to a FAX machine but thats about it…duh…The point is that email is what people use to send pictures…so why not include your until-now-unconnected-grandmother along with your friends and family. Sorry, I don’t don’t know of anyone who has an HP color fax send pictures to their grandmother who has another HP color fax printer…
4. Billion dollar idea? well, I don’t think its that either but I think its a valuable product to a large group of people. Maybe not a billion dollar idea but one that is needed and can probably make a decent amount of money
5. Spam? sufficiently covered already.
I saw an infomercial for this product over the weekend. It was pretty hilarious the people that they interviewed and the “problems” they discussed with real computers. You can also setup the unit to check for messages at multiple times throughout the day. Imagine only getting emails at 3 specific times of day?!
I cannot see to many more of these products coming out without real computer capabilities.
I’m sorry, but I don’t think this is a great or “huge” idea. Yeah, I can see a small market for it…but for the most part, there are a lot of people dismissing the capability of older people as if none of them can use computers. I mean, c’mon..how hard is it to use aol? I have seen plenty of seniors do it. As for the small number of people who can not use a computer, there is probably a better solution, such as a webtv type of device. The thing I don’t like about this thing is, who wants to print out every single correspondence? And another thing, just because not all seniors are “online” according to a survey, does not mean they even want to be online…don’t assume every person needs to be “online”…some people just don’t care, phone and postal service may be enough for them. If you really want to send grandma a photo and she can’t get online print it out and mail it.
There is an arcane and obscure device called Fax Machine… if integrated with the Sprint fax gateway you get the same result.
A couple comments:
1. Couldn’t HP setup a special 1-800 # that allows subscribers to speak with a late 20’s, early 30’s comforting voice (a nice woman I’d imagine), to setup/manage their subscriber list?
2. Downstream only? How hard would it be to add a fax-quality sheet-fed scanner. Sure, it would be handwriting (or granny’s old 1914 Harverville typewriter), but with the Adobe barcode system (a little square that looks like a bad bitmap error), you could allow granny to write her reply on the bottom half or the backside of a sheet and the barcode could contain the return address of the sender.
3. Photo printing? With approved senders, you could partition messages into groups (text, text with art, text with photo, high quality photo [with size]). If high quality photo, the printer would print the photo at a better quality, possibly with crops and instructions for cutting (say, with the scissor icon and dotted line).
printers are even more crappy than computers! i am a computer programmer and even i refuse to deal with a problem printer. and they have LOTS of problems.
this is not going to work, at least not for long once a whole host of dissatified customers get the word out.
She looks like she’s having a heart attack.
I’m 60, have a network of about 500 boomer friends and associates and I am hard pressed to think of any one of them who don’t have a computer. Sure, not all of them use it to more than 5% of its potential but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to learn more. That’s why I set up my blog. Presto’s marketing strategy is an insult to boomers and seniors. Look at the subject line “Presto-because computers scare old people.” I realize its supposed to be tongue in cheek but if that’s basically what people think about boomers and seniors that’s just wrong!
Brian -
Having blog may not be the best way to reach Seniors ( I see zero comments for all your posts in the blog).
I agree, you can not insult your own consumers.
Cruncher: So far I have done little to market it-it’s mainly for my boomer friends and associates who encouraged me to start tthe blog because of my technical background and they usually end up emailing me because I email them the posts every day. But I did check my stats and it does show 11 comments but they are all from people I don’t know. So far, I have 16 emails from the Presto post but I guess I should start encouraging people to comment on the blog site. Thanks for the feedback.
Brian, I’m glad you said something. The discriminatory tone not only in Presto’s in-your-face ageist marketing but, frankly, in most of this thread is offensive beyond belief. Substitute any race or religion for the ageist comments anywhere above, and you’d have the PC police all over you like a cheap suit!
Why do internet appliances insist on trivializing the internet?
As this service only operates with US landlines, it will do no harm to specify it in the first place. The product could be a hit if it was to be transnational, and deployed to other countries with much less internet penetration than the lucky and almighty US. Globalization does not only mean being able to communicate from one State to another, folks.
This won’t get any spam because it only accepts authorized senders? No spammer/virus out there is capable of faking the return address of someone I know? Whew… I feel much safer now.
Seriously, the FAQ mentions a security code, but it appears to only be to prevent other units from retrieving your mail - not keeping fake messages out.
Also:
Q: Can I reprint messages that are difficult to read or did not print because my Printing Mailbox was out of ink?
A: Unfortunately, no. Be sure to replace your print cartridge as soon as it starts running low on ink. If you would like a reprint of a message, you will need to ask the sender to resend it.
*cough*
You know, this is very close to the device that Netpliance was building, marketing, and providing content to in 1999. The only difference that I can see is that now, there is a significant service cost for consumables.
I think that the Netpliance device was more appropriate.
My grandmother’s been keeping up with family photos for a couple of years using a Ceiva digital photo frame (http://www.ceiva.com/). Similarly, it plugs into an outlet and phone line. We log into an account and upload our latest photos, then they rotate through her frame. She can’t print them out, but that avoids the toner and maintenance issue. And considering the gazillion baby photos sent her way, I’m sure she appreciates having a nice clean, clutter-free way to enjoy them.
BTW - She uses a regular computer for emails, so wouldn’t need that feature.
Why not just set their home page on the browser to the webmai accont the person usess? They type in their email address and password (they can have it written on a piece of paper they keep next to the computer if they can’t remember this)……..I mean surely anyone can use hotmail or yahoo.
And if the cartridge for the ink runs out, do they have to pay an engineer to replace a new one? This is a lame idea, for the same price they could get a cheap computer and a fully functional internet service instead of being short changed for some limited feature email service.