We just want to print from mobile devices. Why is that so hard?
The following is a reprint originally published in 2013 at developinthecloud.drdobbs.com
The ability to print from a mobile device anywhere is emerging from early confusion about terminology, and standards are just beginning to gel.
When all your documents are in the cloud, how do you get them on paper from almost anywhere? Several years ago, you’d carry a portable printer for your laptop. Web-based apps and services in the cloud present a problem for real-world printing needs. Cloud printing to the rescue.
Cloudprinting, as it is commonly defined today, connects your device or desktop computer via the Internet to a Web-based print application, which talks to a printer. As you might imagine, this isn’t the only definition of cloud printing. The confusion over the use of the term “cloud” itself has been well documented here and elsewhere. Commercial print providers like Hubcast and Xerox are using the term “cloud printing” to describe Web-based document managment and procurement systems.
Google’s Cloud Print was developed to provide an easy way for Chromebook owners to print from any location from the Chrome Web browser, eliminating the need for specific print drivers for each printer and operating system. As apps and mobile devices “have become more capable, users are expecting the same capabilities from them that they have on their PCs, and printing is near the top of that list,” Google says on its overview page for developers.
Before Google, HP developed a line of Internet-ready “e-printers” with a similar concept in mind. These printers connect to your home computer, allowing you to print from anywhere just by sending email to the printer. There’s an HP video on Youtube that’s meant to help explain the technology. A happy baby runs at full speed down a real highway to make it to Grandma and Grandpa’s printer from Mom’s camera. HP has expanded the concept into a Web-based print service that includes Google’s Cloud Print.
Since April, FedEx has provided cloud printing services at kiosks in its stores. Printing from Dropbox, Google Docs, and Box has been available at FedEx since 2011. Personally, I believe the FedEx model points to the future of cloud printing.
Cloud printing is an emerging market without common standards. “On the technology adoption curve, mobile printing has moved from innovators to early adopters,” Dinesh Srirangpatna, a research manager at IDC, wrote in an analysis of cloud printing. “Lack of standardization is a barrier for adoption by early majority.”
Cortado, a cloud workspace service provider, wants to move the standards process along. It is partnering with printer, mobile device, and wireless router manufacturers to form the Cloud Printing Alliance, which will work to promote any-device printing from any location.
As equipment standards evolve, they will contribute to widespread mainstream adoption. Until then, you can build your Google Cloud development skills; the overview page for Cloud Print provides code samples, detailed documentation, and an API reference. The opportunities for developers will be many as cloud printing matures.
What do you think? Will cloud printing will become commonplace in the near future?