''The Hard Copy Observer'' was a regular publication of Lyra Research based in

Newtonville, Massachusetts Newtonville is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Geography Newtonville is a predominantly residential neighborhood. It is divided into two parts by the Massachusetts Turnp ...

. It was a business (as opposed to consumer) publication targeted at the

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

and

imaging Imaging is the representation or reproduction of an object's form; especially a visual representation (i.e., the formation of an image). Imaging technology is the application of materials and methods to create, preserve, or duplicate images. ...

business, and was widely considered 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."

History and profile

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. The success of the publication spawned what grew to be a much larger marketing research organization, Lyra Research, headquartered in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. 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 Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...

, Apple Computer, and

Dataproducts Dataproducts Corporation was an early manufacturer of computer peripheral equipment. Overview Initially known as Data Products, the company was founded by Erwin Tomash in 1962 in order to take controlling interest of Telex's Data Systems Division ...

. 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, and beginning in September 2009, the newsletter content was available online. In April 2012, the Photizo Group acquired Lyra Research, and the online ''Observer'' was phased out as it was merged with Photizo's industry news resources.

References

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

External links

{{Official website, https://hardcopyobserver.com