I haven't printed (silver) B&W for a long time. I guess that explains it right there. Back in the "good old days" there were half a dozen manufacturers. Paper came in six contrast grades (polycontrast never quite worked as well). There were literally dozens of surfaces, ranging from glossy to really funky cloth or suede. Different colors of the paper stock. Thicknesses ranging from 1/2 weight to triple weight. Different manufacturers used different amounts of silver for greater brightness range, and varied the proportions of chloride or bromide for warm or cold tones. These were not cheap, but not far away from $1/sheet (8X10 in). Now, Agfa has one chemistry, with two weights and two surfaces. Ilford has two chemistries, warm and neutral, but only one weight and surface. Luminos one warm paper, with three surfaces. They have two different base colors, but with a baryta layer does it make a difference? There is a little more selection in the RC "papers." Like I mentioned at the chat last night, my 35 year old fibre prints look great, while my 10 year old RC prints are fading. Must have done something wrong. The exciting stuff now seems to be ink jet materials, which are actually quite nifty. I guess this is just a rant. I understand very well why the stinky chemicals and expensive inventories evolved away. And I like the ease and creative possibilities with the digital processing. I just hope the folks in this forum get to a museum once and a while to see what used to be possible. You don't get the same effect from a printing press or CRT. [I guess soon the next generation of "old guys" will be lamenting the passing of the CRT in favor of the LCD? Damn, that old Sony had nice blacks!]