The rant is really about how bad Google went or how good SEO experts are today. Google search results are basically unusable for some subjects and Google should fix it, if it doesn't want to end up like Altavista!
A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
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Re: A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
#42Wow. At that point I would identify the top manufacturers of laser printers and review offerings from each manufacturer's website manually.
Sure, but have you seen just how bad manufacturers of anything expensive and technical are at actual presenting their product catalogs in a clear and informative manner that lends itself to comparing with the competition?
Re: A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
#43Anything A3+ (13” x 19”) or smaller in the commercial printing industry is pretty universally considered “small format”. (Some places consider anything sheet-fed as small format and sheets come a lot bigger than A3+.) It’s not surprising that searching using a specific industry term that’s different from your understanding of it would bring results for that larger-than-you-thought category of product. Further, the sm…
Are there even lasers in the large format (50cm+ x roll of paper) realm? I thought it was all ink plotters/printers, at least that's all I've seen in print shops or design places. A lack of lasers might contributes to the SEO spam for the odd terms. Maybe `a3 laser` or `wide format laser` ?
A3 lasers certainly exist. But A3 is not wide format.
I've never heard of a true wide format laser (A2 and larger), and I suspect the technology doesn't exist to make an affordable one. You'd need super-precise optics, an absolutely huge toner/fuser system, and a supply chain for all of the above.
And there would be limited sales. Wide format printers are used for high quality art/photo printing, signage and ads, and sometimes for fabric printing.
Lasers are optimised for office document printing. You don't often need an A2 or larger office document. And when you do - cartography and blueprints - you're probably going to use a plotter.
Re: A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
#44I have an HP m377dw laser and this exact thing was happening when I printed on card stock. TIL via the comments of this video that there should be a paper thickness setting in the driver.
Re: A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
#45... large format laser printer, like A2 and up, in full color? Looks like there are few full-sized office photocopiers that can handle it as well as few models sold as drafting plotters, but the failed print he is holding in the video is an A4 sheet. Any lasers can do A4 just fine, some A3 as well.
Does he really need to hold up a botched A2 printout to prove that he needs non-botched A2 printouts? Surely those are orthogonal requirements, the size of the sheets and the ability to successfully fuse the toner? Can’t we in all fairness take him at his word that he sometimes wants to print at a larger size?
I think most large format printers are open pedestal roll feed design that takes A0(2.8x3.9ft) or A1(1.95x2.76ft) rolls so material is like 3ft wide paper towel. I know because I borrowed one back in University to print out Apollo control panel for myself, which in hindsight probably wasn't allowed.
I know Adam Savage is an ex-ILM professional propmaker and legendary Mythbusters host, but if he by million to one chance would call me to procure an A0 laser printer to print on special plastic sheets, I'd ask him if he mean it.
Re: A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
just trying to go directly to the main manufacturers websites... it's really hard tot find a large format laser printer. So it seems anything talking about large format printer is going to dominate, and any mention of "laser" on those pages is going to do well if you search for laser also. I get lots of hits on the large format page where "laser" is another menu option. I found some on xerox, surprised that didn't ra…
I think the idea is that "laser" should have filtered out the results he was seeing, but it didn't. Furthermore the content on the pages is explicitly lying about the fact that they are laser printers and drowning out the pages that aren't lying. It could just be that Pagerank doesn't work for this type of information organization anymore. It may not be a Google problem but an internet search and Pagerank problem, es…
Maybe google needs a 'downvote' option... but that would suck for anything politics-related, and boots would soon take over that too.
Re: A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find it curious that everyone trots out this idea that Reddit is a google killer etc. Are people serious? Nearly every time I go to Reddit it is a toxic cesspool of hate and intolerance. In the occasional times I land in a subreddit that is not, it is either some totalitarian echo-chamber that is moderated to within an inch of it's life, or its just full of low-quality posts or automated bot spam. Am I just unlucky…
Even if you manage to bypass the problems you mention (by bypassing the popular subreddits), Reddit has become a terrible source of information in general. The old "site:reddit.com" trick doesn't work that well anymore. Well, it returns old results, so there's that. Smaller Subreddits have not only become echo chambers, but they now seem to cater to people trying to get into the field rather than the previous mix of…
This pretty much sums up my experience too. It's been downhill since all the subreddit bans a couple years ago. I miss r/consumeproduct.
Re: A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
#48All printers suck. I've tried every range and type of printer imaginable over the last 35 years and every single one has made me hate my life.
I just threw a laser out of the window because it got to the point where it would only print one page before jamming. I bought a Canon inkjet and that has lasted a couple of months, but now you have to push each piece of paper in to get it started, and a couple of weeks ago it stopped printing the left side of the paper, so I have to make sure everything I print is only on the right. So, this printer is going out the window as soon as the cartridge runs dry.
Re: A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
#49It seems like maybe both large format and laser printer is such a niche product that any site actually talking about it does not have enough SEO juice to overpower these spam sites despite relevancy. The sad thing is these articles seem to be just keyword stuffing because those printers mentioned on that website are all literally not laser printers despite the text saying they are... The problem is Google has no comp…
I find it curious that everyone trots out this idea that Reddit is a google killer etc. Are people serious? Nearly every time I go to Reddit it is a toxic cesspool of hate and intolerance. In the occasional times I land in a subreddit that is not, it is either some totalitarian echo-chamber that is moderated to within an inch of it's life, or its just full of low-quality posts or automated bot spam. Am I just unlucky…
The general idea is that Reddit has small communities that care about niche topics. If you want to know about mechanical keyboards or looking after a rare pet, you'll find a community there that talks about it. They'll probably ban you if you talk about anything other than the specific topic, you regularly see stern warnings added whenever a topic escapes the niche area and gets exposed to the wider Reddit audience, but that's why they are useful.
Re: A rant about search engine results for large format laser printers [video]
#50The solution for consumers are product/price comparison sites like gh.de and idealo.de (german). I don't know the US equivalents of those, but here they get the prices from many sellers and you can compare including shipping, filter by many spec criteria and even find the cheapest solution for a basket of items, split by seller and including shipping which I believe is a NP hard problem (knapsack or traveling salesman?).
sample listing for laser printers: https://geizhals.eu/?cat=prl