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HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

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Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

#221

I've got an Epson Ecotank ET-7750 and really like it. (I'm kind of partial to wide format printers because schematics printed on them are easier on the eyes). That said, a really interesting startup would be an open source inkjet printer. (All the necessary patents have expired ones that are current revolve mostly around cartridges or cleaning systems). I suspect it is a kind of niche market as my kids tell me that "…

I’ve had an ecotank since 2015 when they were first introduced. We’ve printed tens of thousands of pages. And I’ve probably spent less than $70 in ink. It’s on its last legs, and at the time it was an expensive purchase at $500, but we’ve gotten our money’s worth and we’ll be buying another ecotank soon.

Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

#222

For those of you who haven't already, I highly recommend just biting the bullet and switching from HP to Brother for your home printing needs. I was a HP customer for decades . I had models going back to perforated paper dot-matrix printers. Finally last year I had a down-and-out fight to get my HP to do a basic task, and I bit the bullet and ordered a Brother at the recommendation of my friend. My mfc-l3750cdw Broth…

I'm a fan of Canon lasers, as they put the drums on the cartridge. Mine accepts anything that fits, unsure if newer ones are the same.

I also like Canon. Bought one several years ago, ready to take it back if it did not play nice with Linux. I was pleasantly surprised that the drivers worked. I had to fiddle with them initially to get the needed dependencies (not all were configured as dependencies in the package), but they've since fixed it. It's such a breeze. And off-brand toner works just fine, too!

Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

#223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes; a lame pun, but my first thought reading that was 'Well yeah, I like my brother too, but what does that have to with — oh right'. The printer manufacturer is 'Brother', your brother is just 'brother', except if he's also part of a fraternal order.

So, you could have liked your brother Brother Brother's brother Brother, brother? But what about the buffalo?

Br'er Buffalo is probably involved in some mischief with br'er Rabbit and br'er Fox.

Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

#225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The company exists to make money. The fact that it also creates printers is a side effect, not its primary purpose. And what is astounding is that we, as a society, have accepted this backwards rationale. The only reason we should allow companies to exist is to serve the societal interests, and making the money should be the side effect.

So are you going to be the one that's going to open and run a printer company at a loss for the "societal good", or are you just expecting others to take on that burden?

Who said anything about a loss? We allow corporations to make a profit as motivation to actually do things, but if the things they are doing are not in the best interests of society then we should dismantle them.

The phrasing of your statement is quite illustrative of the problem, I think. We have had it drilled into our heads that society should serve the corporation, which exists only for profit, and that this is natural and good.

Which is bullshit. Society is what permits an entity like a corporation to exist in the first place, and we do it because it is (theoretically) in our interest to do so. When it ceases to serve this function it has become a cancer and should be excised from society, but since it is such an effective cancer it has convinced us that we exist for it and not the other way around.

Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or in other words, the price is high because there is consumer demand for printers that work, without advertising, without drm, without screwing you around to squeeze you for cash. Surely DRM here, and allowing closed firmware, and such, are anti-Capitalist? Don't they prevent the market from optimising?

Unlikely. I see this frequently, where niche vendors charge a lot for discontinued products.

Perhaps demand for discontinued products is not uncommon.

It can have other reasons than the old products being bad (e.g. I recently bought two copies of a discontinued mosue at higher-than-MSRP prices because switching to a different model costs me in time to get used to it) but I wouldn't discount it as a major factor. A lot of products really have gotten shittier replacements.

Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

#227

What's amazing about all it is that HP being hostile to its own customers is nothing new: - In 2005, they had one printer that refused to print if the cartridge was past a certain date, even if full. Several also underestimated the volume of ink in cartridges and told you it was empty when not. - In 2007, HP refused to honor hardware warranty if you install any other OS on their laptop. - in 2010, HP refused to provi…

A client of yours migrated TO Oracle in 2023?

What are they smoking

Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

#228

What I find notable whenever something like this is in the news, is that these user-hostile features don't just manifest through abiogenesis, or spontaneous generation. User-hostile features are created by people. Just once, I would like to see an AMA by someone who was directly involved in creating a user-hostile feature - whether it's locking down printers or any of the countless other examples that come up on a we…

I had an experience in another industry similar to what printers are doing. We used to use standard, easy-to-source-from-3rd-party 6-port valves on one of our instruments. Customers loved it, since the valve would need servicing now and then with replacement parts but the company president only saw lost recurring service and support revenue. To complement that perception, the VP Engineering decided "our systems shoul…

How can it be the exact same valve, and yet also be cheaper, and yet also perform worse?

Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this open up the space for a "framework laptop" like company to open up? For "open" printers? If yes, what other product categories is this applicable?

they money in the printer is the ink. this is why HP try to block you off of third party ink.

This shouldn't make sense. It's like buying a car, and then you cannot refill unbranded gas at 1.5€/L, but at 5€/L at the official dealership. Same gas, car works exactly the same, but the car refuses to start it you put unbranded gas. No wonder the money is in the gas, tagging it at 500% the price it would get in a competitive market.

The mistery is why the printers market get away with it.

Re: HP have updated their printers to ban ‘non-HP’ cartridges

#230

What I find notable whenever something like this is in the news, is that these user-hostile features don't just manifest through abiogenesis, or spontaneous generation. User-hostile features are created by people. Just once, I would like to see an AMA by someone who was directly involved in creating a user-hostile feature - whether it's locking down printers or any of the countless other examples that come up on a we…

At least one printer that demands original ink has an option hidden in the setup menu to turn that off, which isn’t very well documented. I suspect a mole in the company (or the detection itself is bugged and tech support needs an override).
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