7 ms·

Epson Boobytrapped Its Printers

29 points by URfejk 4y ago

albert_e 4y ago
How are companies operating in a competitive market able to get away with this blatantly anti-consumer behavior. It's not like there are high barriers to entry in this market, nor there is any exclusive licensing or access hurdles -- like telecom spectrum, or fiber lines for ISPs. Nor are there any compatibility exclusions (proprietary connectors, protocols or walled gardens).
- nicolaslem 4y ago
  It is a dying market though.
  - bzzzt 4y ago
    With al these planned obsolescense gimmicks I’d think the replacement market will be there quite a while.
- superchroma 4y ago
  US government willfully asleep at the wheel and not exerting anything more than minimum regulatory pressure.
- thrashh 4y ago
  A good printer requires good components and that costs $$$ For most people, they want a printer for convenience but not enough to pay good money for good parts So this market of shittier printers with cheap parts exist. While I hate cheap inkjet printers, they did work enough for what I needed them for and they didn’t cost a fortune… so the market continues to exist /shrug
fezfight 4y ago
Anyone working on a free and open 3d printable printer? Let's just download this car already and begin ignoring these vampires.
- URfejk 4y ago
  That would be great. I could finally start printing my own banknotes. :)
- superchroma 4y ago
  Yeah, I'm ready.
baileycoffee 4y ago
Consumer grade printers are a barren wasteland of planned obsolescence and anti-consumer practices. I recommend everyone that needs a printer in their home spend the extra couple of hundred dollars and buy an office grade printer. The difference between our current HP OfficeJet color laser printer/scanner/copier (cost about $450) and our previous cheapo under $100 consumer grade ink jet printer is unbelievable. Well worth the extra cash and it’s a total workhorse that feels like it’ll last for years.
- bediger4000 4y ago
  I will view HP printers suspiciously if I'm ever in the market again, and I won't consider Canon unless everything else is a poor fit. Both brands just make it hard for no good reason. Canon in particular makes using their printers with anything other than Windows arbitrarily difficult.
  - tailspin2019 4y ago
    For what it’s worth, I’ve always had good results from Brother printers (both B&W and colour laser). They seem to be no-nonsense and reliable in my experience. Even their very cheap models. And no issues working with Macs. Can't vouch for other types eg. inkjet models though, as I try to avoid those!
    - bediger4000 4y ago
      I had a Brother HL5xxxN (can't recall the model exactly) a while back. Worked great for years, then get replaced with a Canon "PIXMA" frustrating piece of rubbish. The lure of color, photocopying and scanning was too great, I guess. Never forgive, never forget is my printer motto.
      - tailspin2019 4y ago
        > Never forgive, never forget is my printer motto. Very wise :)

29 points by URfejk 4y ago

How are companies operating in a competitive market able to get away with this blatantly anti-consumer behavior. It's not like there are high barriers to entry in this market, nor there is any exclusive licensing or access hurdles -- like telecom spectrum, or fiber lines for ISPs. Nor are there any compatibility exclusions (proprietary connectors, protocols or walled gardens).

nicolaslem 4y ago
It is a dying market though.
- bzzzt 4y ago
  With al these planned obsolescense gimmicks I’d think the replacement market will be there quite a while.
superchroma 4y ago
US government willfully asleep at the wheel and not exerting anything more than minimum regulatory pressure.
thrashh 4y ago
A good printer requires good components and that costs $$$ For most people, they want a printer for convenience but not enough to pay good money for good parts So this market of shittier printers with cheap parts exist. While I hate cheap inkjet printers, they did work enough for what I needed them for and they didn’t cost a fortune… so the market continues to exist /shrug

fezfight 4y ago

Anyone working on a free and open 3d printable printer? Let's just download this car already and begin ignoring these vampires.

URfejk 4y ago
That would be great. I could finally start printing my own banknotes. :)
superchroma 4y ago
Yeah, I'm ready.

baileycoffee 4y ago

Consumer grade printers are a barren wasteland of planned obsolescence and anti-consumer practices. I recommend everyone that needs a printer in their home spend the extra couple of hundred dollars and buy an office grade printer. The difference between our current HP OfficeJet color laser printer/scanner/copier (cost about $450) and our previous cheapo under $100 consumer grade ink jet printer is unbelievable. Well worth the extra cash and it’s a total workhorse that feels like it’ll last for years.

bediger4000 4y ago
I will view HP printers suspiciously if I'm ever in the market again, and I won't consider Canon unless everything else is a poor fit. Both brands just make it hard for no good reason. Canon in particular makes using their printers with anything other than Windows arbitrarily difficult.
- tailspin2019 4y ago
  For what it’s worth, I’ve always had good results from Brother printers (both B&W and colour laser). They seem to be no-nonsense and reliable in my experience. Even their very cheap models. And no issues working with Macs. Can't vouch for other types eg. inkjet models though, as I try to avoid those!
  - bediger4000 4y ago
    I had a Brother HL5xxxN (can't recall the model exactly) a while back. Worked great for years, then get replaced with a Canon "PIXMA" frustrating piece of rubbish. The lure of color, photocopying and scanning was too great, I guess. Never forgive, never forget is my printer motto.
    - tailspin2019 4y ago
      > Never forgive, never forget is my printer motto. Very wise :)