Getting to know VDP

What is VDP and what should a publisher know about it?
VDP stands for variable data printing and every publisher should know that it is the key to individuated news.
You can't have an individuated print publication without it.
But be aware that VDP describes a $200 home printer as well as a $5 million digital press such as the ones Oce and Hewlett Packerd and IBM have developed. And everything in between.
In fact surprisingly both the home printer and the big digital presses work off the same technology, inkjet printing.
VDP simply means every printed page can be different. The paper rolls through the "press" and instead of receiving the same pattern of images over and over again, the pattern is different every time.
So far the concept has only been used sparingly.
The Washington Times varied the pages of its national weekly for about 50 subscribers using OCE presses in Boca Raton in 2008.
And a German startup called Syntops partnered with the Swiss Post in 2008 to deliver newspapers that had a combination of pages chosen individually by 500 recipients.
So crude first steps have been taken.