TECHNOLOGY/DESKTOP PUBLISHING
This month's endorsement by
International Business Machines Corp <IBM> of two desktop
publishing software products should add some much-needed
standards to one of the fastest growing segments of the
computer industry, analysts say.
    Desktop publishing is a relatively new market but industry
analysts estimate that sales will reach one billion dlrs this
year and jump to six billion dlrs by 1990, fueled by the rush
of corporations to bring their printing and publishing needs
in-house rather than to more expensive outside printers.
    Printing is a big expense for most companies. Analysts
estimate U.S. corporations will spend about six to 20 pct of
their total operating budgets on publishing expenses this year.
    At a desktop publishing conference in Chicago earlier this
month, IBM said it will adopt Adobe Systems Inc's Postscript
typesetting language in future electronic printing products.
IBM also said it will support Microsoft Corp's Windows
operating environment as the graphics interface standard in
future publishing announcements rather than its own Topview
environment.
    "IBM's announcement will give tremendous stimulation to the
development of the desktop publishing market," said David
Goodstein, president of the consulting firm Interconsult Inc.
    "It gives users permission to go ahead and buy products that
are already available without being afraid that they will not
be compatible with whatever IBM does," he said.
    The advent of personal computers, laser printers and
graphics software has allowed users to design and print
brochures, newsletters and a host of other communications at
their desks for a fraction of the cost of an outside printing
firm. Analysts credit Apple Computer with creating desktop
publishing when it introduced its Macintosh personal computer
four years ago, with its easy-to-use formats and excellent
graphics capabilities.
     Since then Digital Equipment Corp, Xerox Corp, Apollo
Computer Inc and a number of other vendors have identified
desktop publishing as a major growth area. IBM entered the
market only last July when it formed its Publishing Systems
Business Unit. IBM's embrace of the already-widely used
Postscript, a language that interprets computer commands and
translates them into instructions for the printer, was an
acknowledgment of what is already a de facto standard.
    Both users and makers of electronic publishing systems said
the support of the world's largest computer maker was critical
to the language's ultimate acceptance by users.
    John Warnock, president of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Adobe,
said, "Ten pct of corporations have (moved) into desktop
publishing but 90 pct are still sitting back and waiting for an
IBM announcement."
    IBM entered a licensing pact with Adobe for Postscript, but
its support of Windows was not quite so broad. IBM recognizes
Windows as a standard but would not comment on the extent of
its commitment to the software.
    Windows, a program integrator, allows personal computer
users to run a number of different applications simultaneously.
 Reuter
