tags: Innovation
, Fresh Idea
posted: Sunday, June 15th, 2008
The HP A10 Printing Mailbox for Presto Service is really a great idea. I had a similar one about 10 years ago. The concept is for those, like the WW2 generation, who might never have gotten into computers, or at least not very deeply, and yet you might want to be able to email your grandparents.
This device plugins into the phone line and dials into the Presto service a few times a day, and prints out any received email. It uses a whitelist for screening email so you won’t get printouts from any spam or junk mail. Though it is a great idea, I have to wonder how long the Presto service has been around. The target audience for this device must be shrinking every day. Still, I applaud the concept.
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Dear Brian:
Thanks for your kind comments. Presto launched in November of 2006 at the Wall Street Journal “D” conference. Since then, tens of thousands of customers have purchased the HP Printing Mailbox and subscribed to the Presto Mail Service. You can get an impression of how people like Presto by visiting Amazon’s user reviews (here: http://tinyurl.com/39xgnw ) or the independent Presto user community, PrestoPlace (here: http://www.prestoplace.com).
Our research shows that there are 53 million people over age 65 in America that never go online. Although we agree that this market shrinks over time, there is still a huge market for a number of years to come. Also, we have heard anecdotally that many people with certain disabilities that prevent easy use of a computer use Presto as a way to receive email.
Thanks again for your blog post.
Peter Radsliff, VP Marketing
Presto Services Inc.