At the 5th annual 20/20 vision on print conference in Berlin, the aim of the conference was to explore the relationship with technology over the next twenty years.

Key speakers disagreed as to how the technology was going to get there, but it was generally agreed that Broadband would be the foreseeable way forward. It was also stated that paper was here to stay for at least the next twenty years.

Paper services would still be used owing to the fact that most people are happier printing out copies of work they have produced or printing a hard-copy of a web-site, they felt this was an easier way of checking through their work. People still felt more comfortable with paper as a means of communication rather than relying on technology.

In 1999 three trillion pages were printed in homes and offices worldwide, and this is not expected to fall. An explosion in printing has been forecast and the reason for this was the increase in popularity of digital photography. Home printing is expected to rise from 2.5 billion prints to 15 billion in 2004. The internet also is playing a large role in keeping printing alive with it's growth in popularity also.

Many analysts agreed that the future lay with broadband and in cable rather than copper. Existing DSL services were purely a stopgap for much faster services and that people would be communicating on networks using wireless technology and networks as they stand now, will be long forgotten.