The Hard Copy Observer
| Frequency | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Charles LeCompte |
| Founded | 1991 |
| First issue | October 1991 |
| Final issue | August 2009 |
| Company | Lyra Research |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Newtonville, Massachusetts |
| Website | hardcopyobserver |
The Hard Copy Observer was a regular publication of Lyra Research based in Newtonville, Massachusetts.[1] It was a business (as opposed to consumer) publication targeted at the printing and imaging business, and was widely considered[according to whom?] the premier authoritative factual source for that industry. Tekrati, a firm in the analyst relations business, summarized The Hard Copy Observer as "a leading publication serving the industry and, in fact, the printer industry bible."[2]
History and profile
[edit]Volume 1, Number 1 of The Observer was published in October 1991. Its founder as well as original editor and publisher was Charles LeCompte, who remained as publisher until 2010.[citation needed]
The success of the publication spawned what grew to be a much larger marketing research organization, Lyra Research, headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts. A companion monthly newsletter, The Hard Copy Supplies Journal, was also developed to focus on the consumables portion of the business.
The first edition was 28 pages in length, and featured front-page stories about Xerox, Apple Computer, and Dataproducts. Its "look" was the no-nonsense black-and-white format that for the most part has remained unchanged. Today's subscription rate is $650 a year, compared to 1991's $495 a year, though the average edition's length, in its print form, grew to over 50 pages. Then as now, the publication is subscriber-supported with virtually no advertising.
The print version of the publication ended with the August 2009 issue,[3] and beginning in September 2009, the newsletter content was available online.
In April 2012, the Photizo Group acquired Lyra Research,[4] and the online Observer was phased out as it was merged with Photizo's industry news resources.
References
[edit]- ^ "Company Overview of Lyra Research, Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- ^ [1] Archived November 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Hard Copy Observer -- now online!". Jim Lyons Observations. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
- ^ "Photizo Group Acquires Lyra Research". ZDNet. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
External links
[edit]- 1991 establishments in the United States
- 2009 disestablishments in the United States
- Defunct business magazines published in the United States
- Monthly magazines published in the United States
- Online magazines published in the United States
- Magazines established in 1991
- Magazines disestablished in 2009
- Online magazines with defunct print editions
- Defunct magazines published in Massachusetts