Ink jet and laser printer have transformed the way people generate hard copy output in the home and office. More than three hundred million of these printing devices have been sold and another three hundred million or more will be sold in the next three years alone. With the billions of dollars now invested in these “digital patterning technologies”, where will they be applied next? This paper will explore some of the advantages that these “digital patterning technologies” can offer in combination with advancements in computing power and the Internet. It will compare user needs with these new capabilities. It will explore some of the reasons manufacturers who use traditional analog patterning technologies are scrambling to try to figure out how to join the digital revolution.