Visitors to Canon Computer Systems Inc’s web site will soon be able to link to more than 750,000 images provided through an agreement between Canon and International Microcomputer Software Inc. According to IMSI’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, Bob Mayer, more than 80% of the visual content users want is used for print communications. Canon wants to use that demand to drive sales for its printers. We believe providing our customers with added content via the internet makes for a more dynamic, fulfilling experience with their printer, explained Canon’s software product manager, Jaime Rodriguez. As well as ArtToday, IMSI owns MasterPhotos.com, which it bought earlier this year. Between the two, IMSI claims to have of the largest visual content collections in the world. A key competitor is Bill Gates’ Corbis, which underlies the photo search on AltaVista, for example. Yet Gates’ rather better-known software company, Microsoft Corp, has also signed with IMSI and ArtToday, as have Sierra Online and CMP Media’s Computer Retail Week. When it comes to online images, it seems no one can have too much of a good thing.
