``20/20: Vision on Print'' Conference Concludes After Full Day of Visionary Discourse and Debate.

BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 5, 2000

Annual forum featuring technology experts reinforces the

industry influence of Lexmark, the world's only major IT company

focused exclusively on printing

Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE:LXK), today provided an eye-opening glimpse of the future as seen through the lenses of a formidable array of technology experts and visionaries. A wide-ranging format of speeches, presentations, product demonstrations, technology exhibitions and panel debates was packed into a single day of illumination for approximately 200 journalists from around the world as part of Lexmark's highly successful fifth annual "20/20: Vision on Print" technology conference in Berlin.

The program started with a keynote address from Paul Curlander, Lexmark's chairman and CEO, who dispelled the widely held myth that online technologies would reduce printing in the office and home. Curlander said research indicates that home and office printing will increase from 3 trillion pages a year to 8 trillion by 2010. He also discussed dominant print technologies of the future.

The day's theme, "Printing in a World of Pervasive Technology," was then picked up by Peter Cochrane, the chief technologist of British Telecom, who succeeded Curlander at the podium. Cochrane asserted that the technology companies that will survive in the future are not the smartest or the strongest, rather they are the ones that are most adaptable to change.

Cochrane then joined a lively panel discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of competing Internet access technologies. Joining Cochrane on the panel were venture capitalist Jon Auerbach, Siemens' Dave Pritchard, Giles Klein of Elle Magazine, and Amy Harris of IDC.

Highlights of the debate included:

-- The prediction that PDAs have virtually no future as a consumer technology;

-- near-term developments such as video on demand and 3-D game boxes and
teleconferencing will create bandwidth challenges that can be addressed by the
"blue box" technology being developed in Europe that will network cars, homes
and neighborhoods;

-- the complexity of pervasive technology is creating a need for improved
service for which customers will be willing to pay a premium; and

-- and reliable speech recognition technology is still more than a decade away
but there is no contextualization for the application.

The audience was polled during the panel discussion and decided - with nearly 70 percent of the vote - that the PC will still be the primary Internet access device five years from now. The audience also felt, by a margin of more than three to two, that a serious IT challenge is the fact that we are educating students in declining technologies.

John Zbrozek, vice president of research and development in Lexmark's Consumer Printer Division, followed the panel with the message that no matter which technology platform wins the battle to dominate Internet access, the human desire to print will ultimately ensure that hardcopy output technologies will be essential elements of our communications regimen for the foreseeable future. "It is reasonable to expect that because of the evolution of instant access to exponentially more information, our appetite for printing will increase," said Zbrozek.

Concluding the morning session was a presentation on the future of digital photography by Pierre Schaeffer, Eastman Kodak's vice president and general manager for Europe. According to Schaeffer, despite just being four years old, the consumer digital camera market has already overtaken the traditional single lens reflex camera market. Schaeffer's segment ended with a demonstration of the new Kodak Personal Picture Maker PM200 by Lexmark, a photoprinter with an on-board LCD display screen that allows users to edit photographs before ever committing them to paper.

After the lunch break, in which journalists had access to speakers who presented in the morning, the afternoon keynote was delivered by John Naisbitt, whose Megatrends and Megatrends 2000 have established the author as one of the most respected visionary writers of the past 30 years. Naisbitt underlined the theme of his book, High Tech, High Touch, by stressing the importance for IT companies to not neglect the creative element of our culture. He says that when companies have similar technologies, what distinguishes them is their attention to social phenomena.

Between the afternoon keynote and panel session, the journalists caught a glimpse of a consultative process that can save a company millions of dollars in hardcopy output expense. Nick Metcalfe, head of consultancy for Lexmark Solution Services in Europe, explained that processes and products that are custom designed by Lexmark can save the average corporate customer between 20 and 40 percent in print costs.

Continuing the theme of the morning's debate about cutting-edge technologies, the afternoon panel session focused on the effects of those technologies on society. Cued up by a speech from Robin Raskin, the editor-in-chief of FamilyPC, who suggested that we need a "digital Dr. Spock" to guide parents through the tough decisions of regulating home Internet usage, the panelists' views included:

-- international author James Bellini's skepticism about the

transformational magnitude of the Internet; Bellini said that

it will be up to us to determine whether the Internet is a

liberating technology or the catalyst for a high-tech feudal

society

-- former West German Finance Minister Manfred Lahnstein's

assertion that we will not have an IT "haves versus have nots"

debate ten years from now because Internet access is

proliferating so quickly in developing countries that it will

be ubiquitous;

-- and scientist and author Clifford Stoll's spirited rejection

of the promotion of computers to children. Stoll said that he

was a proponent of computer technology but does not think

computers can solve the problems of educating our children.

The day's events were moderated by Richard Sharpe, computing technology journalist, and Dieter Kronzucher, special correspondent for one of Europe's leading private TV channels, Sat. 1.

As the program came to an end, the journalists enjoyed a sneak preview of an event that is certain to be the highlight of the gala dinner scheduled for Thursday night. Up-and-coming German fashion designer Stephan Hann will unveil "The Lexmark Collection," a haute couture women's fashion line created from the output of Lexmark inkjet and laser printers.

To access photographs of this unique fashion collection and to read more about the speakers and content of the 20/20 conference, visit www.lexmark.com and click on the 20/20 column at the bottom of the page.

About Lexmark

Lexmark (NYSE:LXK) is a leading, global developer, manufacturer and supplier of printing solutions, including laser and inkjet printers and associated supplies for offices and homes. Founded in 1991, Lexmark employs more than 11,000 people worldwide and markets its products and services in over 150 countries. Lexmark reported approximately $3.5 billion of revenue in 1999 and can be found on the Internet at www.lexmark.com.

Lexmark, Lexmark with the diamond design are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc., registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.