From what I understand, in the inkjet market the inkjet printer firms own the inkjet patents, which means it's not possible to disrupt the market.
Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
11–20 of 213 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
#12Avoid ink jet and use laser jet instead.
This solved most of the frustration for me. The upfront cost is slightly higher, the print quality is slightly decreased but the long term satisfaction is greatly enhanced.
Ink jet in any form is dead in my mind.
Re: Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
#13I think it's a natural part of industry decline. They've gradually migrated from an industry based on innovation and customer acquisition to one based on milking every last penny from their installed base. 20 years ago printers were critical business machines and very popular home electronics. The current generation is comfortable reading off their screens.
Re: Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
#14Avoid ink jet and use laser jet instead. This solved most of the frustration for me. The upfront cost is slightly higher, the print quality is slightly decreased but the long term satisfaction is greatly enhanced. Ink jet in any form is dead in my mind.
> The upfront cost is slightly higher, the print quality is slightly decreased but the long term satisfaction is greatly enhanced.
OK but they still stop updating the drivers after 3 years, which is the main problem. Otherwise they would last forever.
Re: Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
#15You should probably clarify if you're asking about inkjet printers. I bought a laser printer almost 2 years ago. No complaints so far, but we'll see how long that lasts.
This! inkjets printers are a horrible industry, but office printers need to be stable and work. I got a brother black and white laser printer designed for an office on 'Prime Day" years ago and it's never failed me.
Re: Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
#16I think you touched all relevant points. Through my filter, there are either the "serious" customers (you mentioned them: offices and photographers) who are too smart to be scammed. And then there are private consumers who lack the knowledge to pick a printer and because they print only occasionally. I wonder if for the consumer market segment investing into a good printer is it even worth, considering that 2D printi…
> considering that 2D printing at home is rivalled by many online services who print on far superior printers and deliver at home?
Dunno, unless you're looking for larger formats most print shops will not have printers superior to decent home units like Epson SC-P900
Re: Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
#17Avoid ink jet and use laser jet instead. This solved most of the frustration for me. The upfront cost is slightly higher, the print quality is slightly decreased but the long term satisfaction is greatly enhanced. Ink jet in any form is dead in my mind.
> the print quality is slightly decreased
That's heavily understating it.
Re: Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
#18> People that do print at home, are mostly photographers that want physical prints of their photos. And parents printing color-in pages of Elsa and Anna
Serious photographers printing at home are using dye sub instead of ink jet
Re: Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
#19My laser printer is now over 10 years old. I bought toner 2/3 times I think. The only thing I needed to replace was one internal battery for a couple of dollars recently that was used to keep the time of the internal fax machine I never used, kept bugging me for the date.
Re: Ask HN: Why is the printer industry so scammy?
#20Why can't paper printers be more like 3D printers? Amazing repairability, many suppliers of standardized source material...