Yes, to print things out to hand to students.
Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
11–20 of 41 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
#12I'm a higher ed sysadmin and yes, yes they do. I have faculty that refuse to accept digital assignments and require their students to turn in their work by hand during office hours. I have other faculty that require every student to print out the assigned reading and bring it to class. I've been preaching for "green months" where I just turn off the print server but that's falling on deaf ears it seems like.
Please read the other responses here and consider that maybe your colleagues have a better idea of what they need than you do.
Looks like I need to understand my users better.
Edit: holy crap, read all of the responses so far and I have some emails to send and thought processes to change. Thanks for helping me realize this.
Re: Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
#13[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
#14Any reviews on Remarkable/Remarkable2 tablets?
Re: Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please read the other responses here and consider that maybe your colleagues have a better idea of what they need than you do.
Looks like I need to understand my users better. Edit: holy crap, read all of the responses so far and I have some emails to send and thought processes to change. Thanks for helping me realize this.
If you really want to help your colleagues, make it as easy to print as humanly possible. ;-)
I don’t know how many times I’ve had to help older people I work with who are at the end of their chain trying to figure out how to simply print some document, work-related or otherwise. It should be plug and play but it usually isn’t. Technology is really not that intuitive for people who didn’t grow up with it, and what they need is frequently quite different than what “we” (digital natives, I guess) need. Accessibility’s a bitch!
Re: Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Please read the other responses here and consider that maybe your colleagues have a better idea of what they need than you do.
Looks like I need to understand my users better. Edit: holy crap, read all of the responses so far and I have some emails to send and thought processes to change. Thanks for helping me realize this.
Requiring students to print out assigned reading is ridiculous though. I'd also argue that they should print the assignments out themselves if they want a paper copy to use as opposed to making students do it, though I suppose that's also a budgetary thing (fob the costs onto the students, where it's spread out more).
Re: Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
#17If you have a single monitor it's easier to multiscreen on paper. You can print and put leaves side-by-side. It makes convenient to navigate through works that don't read linear, and make a lot of references to itself, but several pages ahead/back.
Re: Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
#18Paper is a perfected technology.
Doesn't loose charge
Can outlast file format
Re: Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
#19Yes. In addition to what others have said, I find looking at a printed copy of my own stuff to make edits to be very useful. I don't know why, but I can edit LaTeX all day looking at the pdf output thinking everything is great, but after printing it I immediately spot glaring issues.
Re: Ask HN: Do academics still use printers?
#20Based on my time working university IT, yes. And they all insist on having their own, grant-purchased printer in their lab on the network, supported by you.