It is no secret that blogs have become a go-to source for topical news and entertainment in recent years.  As both print and online media outlets struggle to monetize their products, the targeted insight provided by some blogs has changed the way that many people, including myself, find their news.  Below is a review of my favorite industry blogs.

MFP Solutions

The print4pay Hotel MFP Solutions Blog embraces the entrepreneurial spirit and channel-eye-view of its writer and creator, New Jersey area dealer Art Post.  I’ve been reading the MFP Solutions blog since I first became gap’s MFP-Copier and Production Analyst and contacted Art for an informational interview as soon as I decided to launch the Gap Dealer Partnership Program.  Without even knowing me, Art sat down and answered all my questions regarding the dealer community, what they want, what might deter them, and it certainly helped me nail down a game plan for launching the program.  Perhaps the best lesson that he gave me on what motivates dealers ($) came at the end of our conversation when he tried to sell me ad space on his blog!  Still mulling that one over Art…

This regularly updated blog provides a variety of content ranging from industry news, product reviews, dealer sales tips, and editorials by both Art and a field of guest writers.  Even a few gap intelligence Pico Letters have made it on there.  One of the most unique aspects of the MFP Solutions Blog is the level of interaction that it allows.  Art regularly creates and posts surveys on major industry events and backs his entire blog with a network of closed message boards.  The dealer-only (primarily) P4P Hotel Message Boards allow members to discuss events, compare pricing, share industry beliefs, and rip their vendors in a closed setting.  Perhaps most noteworthy, the level of vitriolic posts on the P4P boards is far lower than any message boards that I have ever seen.  Backed by his closed message board, Art is provided with an infinite number of nets to capture the pulse of the channel and get early scoops on product and industry news to funnel to his MFP Solutions blog.

This Ain’t Your Father’s Office

There are many qualities needed to run a weekly competitive intelligence service, but two requirements that continue to stand out are establishing a routine and becoming completely immersed into a category.  There is no doubt that KMBS rep Neal Petermann applies both of those qualities to his “This Ain’t Your Father’s Office” blog, which is updated each Monday without fail and features very concise overviews of just about everything that happened across the industry that week.  It is basically a print-focused New York Times for the twitter age:  All the news that’s fit to print, but small enough to read.

The Death of the Copier

Leave it to an HP salesman to create a blog called “The Death of the Copier” right?  Readers of The Death of the Copier of course know that this blog is not meant as a condemnation of copier technology (just the sales methods), and is instead intended to tout the benefits of Managed Print Services and selling solutions, not hardware.  Through a combination of excerpts from industry news publications, brief insights and editorials, and very heated debates in each post’s comment section, the DOTC provides very useful insight into MPS and the direction of the industry.

With the exception of certain consultant blogs with a vested interest in the success of Managed Print Services, The Death of the Copier is about as pro-MPS as they come.  So, depending if you’re drinking the new MPS “Kool-Aid” or consuming the same old hardware-centric “coffee”, opinions of writer Greg Walters can range from being a visionary to being dangerous.  Regardless of the various opinions, Greg should at least be commended for finding so many pictures of women with copiers or women with fish (why fish?) to go with each and every post.  He’s got to run out some day.

Plus he starts posts in ways that always crack me up.  This one is classic:

“A couple weeks back, while off the grid, I had an epiphany of sorts.”

You can’t make that stuff up and I am sure he was serious.  I’ve never spoken to Greg, but I can’t help reading that line in a Christopher Walken voice/cadence.

Tough Love for Xerox

I don’t always know what the heck Tough Love for Xerox writer Michael Josefowicz is taking about, but there is no doubt that this 37 year industry veteran is completely focused on the future of production printing.  Especially a future where page growth is driven by personalized newspapers, the “Printernet”, expanded connectivity, and ongoing technological innovation.  No looking back to the good old days on this blog, unless your talking about the stock prices of the companies in Michael’s “Printernet IRA”.

People in the print is dead crowd should add Tough Love for Xerox to their bookmarks.

The Connected Copier

The Connected Copier blog is run by Canon dealer Vince McHugh and features very passionate and lengthy posts on two main subjects, slamming IKON/Ricoh and touting Canon technology.  For those at Ricoh/IKON that are trying to gain an understanding of how Canon’s dealers are going about targeting IKON’s Canon MIFs, The Connected Copier is certainly a good place to start.  Gap Intelligence’s weekly MFP-Copier Market Intelligence Report is good too.  Of course the Connected Copier also covers other major industry events and absolutely makes up for its bias with thorough, insightful, and passionate posts.

Digital Picture Frame Review

Consolidation of digital frame blogs has mirrored levels of digital frame vendor contraction in recent years, making Digital Picture Frame Review the only independent DPF blog in existence.  Good thing for industry players and end users, the team at DPFR produces very good reviews.  Reviews on this blog go way beyond the press release and spec sheet, as the writers actually use frames and evaluate the device’s core features including design, display modes, menu, memory sources, and overall usability to provide very insightful reviews.  Beyond reviews, the site’s content is basically limited to reposted press releases, but it is called “Digital Picture Frame Review” after all… what did you expect?

Bill Simmons / Sports Guys World

My wife likes to remind me that I do not actually know Bill Simmons even though when I quote him I call him “my buddy The Sports Guy”.  What does she know.  I’ve been reading my buddy The Sports Guy for over a decade and I’ve seen him go from absolutely destroying every deserving 1990s Boston sports personality from his one man blog to becoming today’s most influential sports personality.  He is on the front page of ESPN.com, has the number one sports podcast on iTunes, boasts over a million twitter followers, and his new 700-page book, “The Book of Basketball”, is number 14 on the NYT non-fiction list.  Unlike other successful entertainers (Dane Cook, Padma Lakshmi, Kings of Leon, Glenn Beck, etc) it is easy to understand why my buddy The Sports Guy is so popular.  Bill writes like a fan (not a critic), includes pop culture commentary in his content, and has harnessed the power of lists and footnotes to help break-up his articles and concisely prove points.  Simmons may not write about copiers or digital fames, but he has had a greater influence on my writing (at least for blogs) than anyone.

Honorable Mention:

Change Forge
Digital Printing and The Pirates that Sell it!
InfoBlog
Imaging Industry Wall Street Insider
Adventures in Office Imaging