6 ms·

I don't think the comparison to digital streaming services holds up, there are plenty of subscription services that send you products and it's pretty silly to s

by _dibly 6y ago

I don't think the comparison to digital streaming services holds up, there are plenty of subscription services that send you products and it's pretty silly to say that you don't own products that are being sent to you. It's not like HP can revoke a digital license to all of the ink I've already received. The issue here has nothing to do with subscription services themselves and everything to do with HP arbitrarily changing the terms of a deal to mandate a subscription service.

thatguy0900 6y ago
Hp can revoke that liscense, though. They put drm chips in the cartridge and your printer will refuse to work with them.
lisper 6y ago
> It's not like HP can revoke a digital license to all of the ink I've already received. Actually, it's exactly like that. HP cartridges can and do expire, and printers will refuse to work with them even though they are still full and functional.
- thebean11 6y ago
  Yes but that's not really the case here
  - charwalker 6y ago
    It's important as HP has done it before and will do it again. This is just a new variation of that same mentality. Fool me twice, can't get fooled again except ink.
    - alasdair_ 6y ago
      >Fool me twice, can't get fooled again except ink. This is a common saying in Texas, apparently.
- drewzero1 6y ago
  I have an HP printer/scanner from ~2007 and when it eventually dies I plan to replace it with a similar unit of the same vintage, because it seems the ink shenanigans have only gotten worse with newer technology. I can at least still buy 3rd-party refilled cartridges online without worrying about them getting deactivated. My dad's printer is affected by this news, and between this and other recent issues it's having I doubt he'll ever buy a new HP printer again. He's been a lifelong (dare I say lifetime) customer since buying his HP 12C calculator in the 80s, and has owned only HP printers since his first DeskJet 697c in '96.
  - tpxl 6y ago
    >I plan to replace it with a similar unit of the same vintage Buy a non-shit brand that doesn't connect to the internet, eg. something from Brother without internet connectivity.
    - smsm42 6y ago
      Second that, owned several Brother things, never had trouble or any shenanigans like HP does.
    - davitocan 6y ago
      I always put our printers on a separate vlan that only accepts connections from our primary vlan. No magic firmware updates anymore.
    - greenyoda 6y ago
      My recent experience with Brother was decidedly shitty: an inkjet printer that died after a few months. On the other hand, I have a Brother laser printer that's still working after 17 years - and they still manufacture toner cartridges for it. (It's so old that it has a parallel port[1] in addition to a USB port.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_port https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_port
    - drewzero1 6y ago
      The one I have sets up its own wireless network which is definitely a security risk, but it doesn't connect to my LAN or the internet. I've seen newer ones that do connect to the internet and it only seems like trouble. I was thinking about this a few weeks ago because I found an identical printer at a thrift store for $4. I didn't get it but thought it would be nice to be able to keep using my stash of 3rd-party cartridges.
vorpalhex 6y ago
> It's not like HP can revoke a digital license to all of the ink I've already received That is literally what they are doing through printer firmware. They are literally preventing you from printing freely.
- jellicle 6y ago
  And they can continue to do it, even revoking their own print cartridges if they want to. "Oh, that's 2020 ink, it won't print in 2021."
  - shaftway 6y ago
    Shhhhhhhhhhh, don't give them any ideas. It'd be way too easy to claim that the ink is past it's best-by date, and that they want you to have a trouble free experience with their ink, so they are disabling that bad expired ink.
    - Spivak 6y ago
      Doesn't ink expire normally after a few years?
      - nogabebop23 6y ago
        toner cartridges last forever. I've only used 3-4 over the past 20 years, including the replacement stored for years after I bought it my printer because I assume they would pull that intro-cartridge horseshit but they didn't - they still won!
  - dane-pgp 6y ago
    "Oh, not ink bought in Utica, no, only Albany ink."
  - SilasX 6y ago
    “Oh that’s Word 8, it doesn’t work with Windows 10.”
  - 6y ago
filmgirlcw 6y ago
> It's not like HP can revoke a digital license to all of the ink I've already received. Except they’ve done exactly that. Twice. Issues as “security” updates no less.
- nogabebop23 6y ago
  well they were securing their future revenue streams, so accurate just not the reasonable interpretation.
throwanem 6y ago
> It's not like HP can revoke a digital license to all of the ink I've already received. It is exactly like that. If you unenroll a printer from Instant Ink, it will no longer accept the cartridges provided under that program. I use the service and like it - for photo prints, where the per-page pricing model works in my favor; for documents, I have a monochrome laser. But outside my specific and very narrow use case, it is a terrible deal.

by _dibly 6y ago

thatguy0900 6y ago

Hp can revoke that liscense, though. They put drm chips in the cartridge and your printer will refuse to work with them.

lisper 6y ago

> It's not like HP can revoke a digital license to all of the ink I've already received. Actually, it's exactly like that. HP cartridges can and do expire, and printers will refuse to work with them even though they are still full and functional.

thebean11 6y ago
Yes but that's not really the case here
- charwalker 6y ago
  It's important as HP has done it before and will do it again. This is just a new variation of that same mentality. Fool me twice, can't get fooled again except ink.
  - alasdair_ 6y ago
    >Fool me twice, can't get fooled again except ink. This is a common saying in Texas, apparently.
drewzero1 6y ago
I have an HP printer/scanner from ~2007 and when it eventually dies I plan to replace it with a similar unit of the same vintage, because it seems the ink shenanigans have only gotten worse with newer technology. I can at least still buy 3rd-party refilled cartridges online without worrying about them getting deactivated. My dad's printer is affected by this news, and between this and other recent issues it's having I doubt he'll ever buy a new HP printer again. He's been a lifelong (dare I say lifetime) customer since buying his HP 12C calculator in the 80s, and has owned only HP printers since his first DeskJet 697c in '96.
- tpxl 6y ago
  >I plan to replace it with a similar unit of the same vintage Buy a non-shit brand that doesn't connect to the internet, eg. something from Brother without internet connectivity.
  - smsm42 6y ago
    Second that, owned several Brother things, never had trouble or any shenanigans like HP does.
  - davitocan 6y ago
    I always put our printers on a separate vlan that only accepts connections from our primary vlan. No magic firmware updates anymore.
  - greenyoda 6y ago
    My recent experience with Brother was decidedly shitty: an inkjet printer that died after a few months. On the other hand, I have a Brother laser printer that's still working after 17 years - and they still manufacture toner cartridges for it. (It's so old that it has a parallel port[1] in addition to a USB port.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_port https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_port
  - drewzero1 6y ago
    The one I have sets up its own wireless network which is definitely a security risk, but it doesn't connect to my LAN or the internet. I've seen newer ones that do connect to the internet and it only seems like trouble. I was thinking about this a few weeks ago because I found an identical printer at a thrift store for $4. I didn't get it but thought it would be nice to be able to keep using my stash of 3rd-party cartridges.

vorpalhex 6y ago

> It's not like HP can revoke a digital license to all of the ink I've already received That is literally what they are doing through printer firmware. They are literally preventing you from printing freely.

jellicle 6y ago
And they can continue to do it, even revoking their own print cartridges if they want to. "Oh, that's 2020 ink, it won't print in 2021."
- shaftway 6y ago
  Shhhhhhhhhhh, don't give them any ideas. It'd be way too easy to claim that the ink is past it's best-by date, and that they want you to have a trouble free experience with their ink, so they are disabling that bad expired ink.
  - Spivak 6y ago
    Doesn't ink expire normally after a few years?
    - nogabebop23 6y ago
      toner cartridges last forever. I've only used 3-4 over the past 20 years, including the replacement stored for years after I bought it my printer because I assume they would pull that intro-cartridge horseshit but they didn't - they still won!
- dane-pgp 6y ago
  "Oh, not ink bought in Utica, no, only Albany ink."
- SilasX 6y ago
  “Oh that’s Word 8, it doesn’t work with Windows 10.”
- 6y ago

filmgirlcw 6y ago

> It's not like HP can revoke a digital license to all of the ink I've already received. Except they’ve done exactly that. Twice. Issues as “security” updates no less.

nogabebop23 6y ago
well they were securing their future revenue streams, so accurate just not the reasonable interpretation.

throwanem 6y ago

> It's not like HP can revoke a digital license to all of the ink I've already received. It is exactly like that. If you unenroll a printer from Instant Ink, it will no longer accept the cartridges provided under that program. I use the service and like it - for photo prints, where the per-page pricing model works in my favor; for documents, I have a monochrome laser. But outside my specific and very narrow use case, it is a terrible deal.