So what's in your photo album? If you're like a growing number of people, it's probably a bunch of photos that were printed digitally, probably on the family inkjet printer.

But what about the big vacation trip or the 50th anniversary album of the couple who were married when Eisenhower was president? Then there are the baby books, weddings and landmark events that deserve something more than an album that spends its days stuffed in the closet by the back door. So you upload the photos to a website and pull out the credit card. A few days later "something more" arrives in the form of a one-off, customized album, ready to fuel smiles, tears and memories. There's no question, the age of the "run of one" photo book is upon us. And there's no shortage of players playing all the angles.

The recent announcement of Shutterfly's acquisition of an undisclosed number of Xerox iGen3s to support its expanding operations (presumably including the company's new operation in Charlotte, NC) is a coup for Xerox. Not only does it put the company in a new market, but Shutterfly has been using HP Indigo presses since it began, so this move no doubt rattles some cages at HP headquarters in Boise. And the arrival of Xerox on Kodak's turf probably has a few Kodak execs pacing their cages, too.

This is a all a good thing for Xerox, even though consumers don't know or care how their albums are printed. They just want the quality to be as good as it can be. Which is where the next race may be. Consumers will be the judge. (Which is actually something of a frightening thought.)

Hmmm. Kodak used to make a big deal out of images being printed on Kodak Paper. Will the next branding campaign in consumer photography be to drive the choice of device used to print one-off books of memories?

Noel Ward
Executive Editor
On Demand Journal