Google is about to solve this problem with cloud-printing, which will send your documents from a mobile device to any web-connected printer.
I tend to view printing as something like the floppy disk, a legacy technology that nobody really needs anymore. And before you light up the comments telling me you need to print receipts for your car repair shop customers, I say that's not the job of an iPad or a cellphone. What you need (and already have) is a computer. For the odd boarding pass or document I might need on paper, I just email the file to the print shop down the road and pay them 10 cents.
But if you still insist on dead tree copies, Google hears you. To enable printing from its driver-free Chrome OS and any other mobile device, Google is putting those drivers in the cloud. Apps send print jobs to Google Cloud Print, whereupon they are processed and sent to net-connected printers. And this isn't just the printer in your upstairs office, either. It could be on the other side of the world.
Google has today released the code and documentation to developers, so its just a matter of waiting for this to show up in the apps you use. In the meantime, iPad users might like this alternative solution:
For more information contact All About Jazz.
