John Markoff, who really just needs to get out of Silicon Valley once-in-a-while, thinks a new HP mobile-enabled printing service is, well, all that. HP is introducing a new online-mobile printing service called Cloudprint, which allows users to save a file on its service/site, and then retrieve it from anywhere to print it. The convoluted twist: users first “print” their documents to H.P. servers connected to the Internet (essentially storing the file online). The file has a code, transmitted to user’s cellphone via a text, and then when on the road, a user can retrieve the documents by entering his/her phone number and a document code on the Cloudprint site. The documents can then be retrieved as a PDF, ready to be printed at a nearby printer. All of this could be very easily achieved by storing your file on Gmail, or an online storage service like Box.net

The only innovation, maybe: the service will include a directory service that will show the location of publicly-available printers on Google Maps. But they surely mean Kinko’s-type services, right? How hard is that?