Re:VisiCalc: Information from Its Creators, Dan Bricklin and...
by neilv on Thursday August 19, 2021 @04:20PM
(#28238856)
Oh yeah, the $1 color(?) laser prints! And the $1-per-page faxing.
I had a childhood very tiny shrinkwrap software business then, and my packaging was based on paper inserts in clamshell packaging (lower startup costs than actual shrinkwrap machine and supplies).
Places were offering color laser prints for $1 per page. That was a little too painful, and my tools for mastering were limited (monochrome paint programs that wouldn't even display square pixels, and some bits manually taped up). I ended up using a normal print shop for offset printing, using one standard (unmixed) color, and I think the guy gave the little kid a discount, and also fixed the tape-up. First product had a standard blue on white paper stock (with a couple colored circle stickers like for garage sales, printed with things like version number on my 9-pin printer), and the second was standard red on canary stock.
We actually did a youth group newsletter a similar way, except with more tape-up (every little big was printed separately), and just 5-cent photocopying.
I had a childhood very tiny shrinkwrap software business then, and my packaging was based on paper inserts in clamshell packaging (lower startup costs than actual shrinkwrap machine and supplies).
Places were offering color laser prints for $1 per page. That was a little too painful, and my tools for mastering were limited (monochrome paint programs that wouldn't even display square pixels, and some bits manually taped up). I ended up using a normal print shop for offset printing, using one standard (unmixed) color, and I think the guy gave the little kid a discount, and also fixed the tape-up. First product had a standard blue on white paper stock (with a couple colored circle stickers like for garage sales, printed with things like version number on my 9-pin printer), and the second was standard red on canary stock.
We actually did a youth group newsletter a similar way, except with more tape-up (every little big was printed separately), and just 5-cent photocopying.