3 ms·

If I was HP -- or a third-party toner provider -- I would release a worm that forces printers to use two or three times the usual amount of ink...

pbhjpbhj 15y ago
Even better surely is to just tell the printer to report the toner as empty after say 30% use (like manufacturers do with inkjet carts!). Then when the customer sends the toner cart in you can recycle the toner (or just top it up and reset the cart or whatever) and sell it back to the customer ... instant sales increase. Of course after a little while the customers going to notice a problem. So then you can sell them a fix (patched firmware) or a new printer. Play it right and you get to run the same scam again then ...
- pak 15y ago
  Brother already does this. When the printer tells you that toner is empty on a Brother laser printer, you usually have about 15-20% left. However, the printer will refuse to print anything. The solution is (no joke) to put tape over the sensor window on the cartridge, and you can get another 1000 pages or so. http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/laser/39806 http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/laser/39806 Proud owner of a Brother laser printer here. My guess is that this is how they can afford to sell the printers for so cheap (usually underselling HP).
8ig8 15y ago
I think my HP printer had that worm pre-installed. We dusted off an old, wired, B&W low res Cannon laser printer last year. It's our utility printer for internal docs or stuff you'd prefer to review on paper. It feels like an old reliable car. I think we're still using the same toner from last year's rebirth. I bet there are a ton of these old printers sitting in corners shadowed by some glitzy full color, wifi, Internet enabled new hotness printer. It's probably a smart move to grab one of these old workhorses off Craigslist if you just need to print plain docs.

pbhjpbhj 15y ago

Even better surely is to just tell the printer to report the toner as empty after say 30% use (like manufacturers do with inkjet carts!). Then when the customer sends the toner cart in you can recycle the toner (or just top it up and reset the cart or whatever) and sell it back to the customer ... instant sales increase. Of course after a little while the customers going to notice a problem. So then you can sell them a fix (patched firmware) or a new printer. Play it right and you get to run the same scam again then ...

pak 15y ago
Brother already does this. When the printer tells you that toner is empty on a Brother laser printer, you usually have about 15-20% left. However, the printer will refuse to print anything. The solution is (no joke) to put tape over the sensor window on the cartridge, and you can get another 1000 pages or so. http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/laser/39806 http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/laser/39806 Proud owner of a Brother laser printer here. My guess is that this is how they can afford to sell the printers for so cheap (usually underselling HP).

8ig8 15y ago

I think my HP printer had that worm pre-installed. We dusted off an old, wired, B&W low res Cannon laser printer last year. It's our utility printer for internal docs or stuff you'd prefer to review on paper. It feels like an old reliable car. I think we're still using the same toner from last year's rebirth. I bet there are a ton of these old printers sitting in corners shadowed by some glitzy full color, wifi, Internet enabled new hotness printer. It's probably a smart move to grab one of these old workhorses off Craigslist if you just need to print plain docs.