It's not InfoPrint. It's iCandy that can catalyze IBM+Ricoh + InfoPrint

From yesterday on Twitter.

I said
@jamois http://om.ly/?njV Imagine if Print globals did the same thing. Ricoh Innovations + InfoPrint + Ikon. Jst 3 people. No mttgs.
He said
jamois@ToughLoveforX yes it would make for an interesting relationship. :)
I said
@jamois I would love to hear what they say. Copiers+MPS+QR+Commercial Print. Maybe someone will set up a blog, so I could lurk and learn.

Why iCandy? Because they have the time and skill set.
The hardworking folks at IBM, Ricoh/Ikon and Infoprint are already much too busy doing what they have to do. For the stars in each of those spaces it's already more than a full time job. Collaboration only works with stars. What is called collaboration, whether in a school or a business without stars is usually just more waste of time for people who don't have anyh time to waste.

Based on what I've seen on Twitter, iCandy is embedded in the social media. As far as I can tell their job is to explore the world to find communities of interest that can take advantage of the inventions coming out of Ricoh Innovation. So far, I have not found a similar group at HP, Xerox, Oce, Fuji, or any other English language sites on the web. (It feels like there are conversations in German. I'm sure there are many more conversations in Asian languages, but I don't have access to those.)

The QR code community is not talking in English to the Print community. The Cloud Computing community is not talking to either. Augmented Reality lives in cell phones and telecom. Telecom doesn't think about print.

My hypothesis is that in this case 1+1+1 = 300.
Creating the link between the two mass media - Print and TV - will explode learning, in High Schools and in every organization and community. Deepening the link between the three mass activities - Entertainment, Work and Shopping - will energize commerce which will lead to the rate of improvement that the world so much needs, right now.

Sooner or later it will happen.
What I'm seeing is IBM v Google v Amazon as the 800 lb gorillas in the Cloud.

On the ground it could be Ricoh + IBM. HP will try to go it alone, with Canon behind the scenes. Xerox will try to go it alone, with Fuji in the background. Amazon will try to go it alone by printing themselves. Google will stay in the Cloud and be open to all comers. Most likely Oce for books and newspapers. If Kodak makes it through the next couple of months, it could be Google + the Creo part of EK for the offset piece. If they don't, the Creo piece might do it while the Kodak piece regains it's focus on the consumer and storing and delivering images.

And behind it all will be the Telecoms and cell phone manufacturers.