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We can talk about that how wastefull or how anachronistic it is. I totally agree, but what I find more interesting is, why so many people (including me) like th

We can talk about that how wastefull or how anachronistic it is. I totally agree, but what I find more interesting is, why so many people (including me) like this useless thing? Did we somehow, reached a point where we get too much of our experiences through a computer or a mobile display? More and more information through a narrowing medium. Or just because to have more kind of medias? Does somebody have a better hipotesis?

hsshah 15y ago
Yeah. My first thought was exactly the same. Why do I find this interesting (I always have my phone with me)? My hypothesis is that with everything getting displayed through LCD screens these days, after a while people will crave for the old sensory experience - working with physical paper. Not sure about the current generation which is growing up with iPads and may have never used a physical newspaper. I will be curious to see their reaction.
- swah 15y ago
  Funny how you writing "physical paper" proves your own point.
jianshen 15y ago
When someone figures this out, they should sell the reasoning to HP. I haven't wanted to buy a printer in a long time even though $99 will get me a wifi capable touch screen fax/scanner/printer/copier these days.
- nacs 15y ago
  Problem is HP makes money by selling ink. They, like most other printer companies, would rather sell the printer hardware at a loss and make tons of money off selling tiny amounts of ink for $20-40 a pop. This thing is a thermal printer so the only thing they could sell you is paper and you can't really charge a large premium on paper.
danielsoneg 15y ago
They've got the design down absolutely pat - the look of the item, the look of the print-outs, the site, the video - it's great. They've also got some valid uses for it in there - yeah, we've all got screens, but those screens are used for an awful lot of other stuff - this gives one quick place to find a couple useful pieces of information, a whole lot faster than otherwise. It is, however, absurdly wasteful. Anything I can read off that, I can save on my phone for a pretty comparable reading experience. I think it's the software, more than the hardware, that's attractive - Give me that information in an app on the same schedule that little box would print it, and I'd use it. It looks like a pretty good filter and delivery mechanism, but I've got no use for a bunch of scraps of thermal paper…

hsshah 15y ago

Yeah. My first thought was exactly the same. Why do I find this interesting (I always have my phone with me)? My hypothesis is that with everything getting displayed through LCD screens these days, after a while people will crave for the old sensory experience - working with physical paper. Not sure about the current generation which is growing up with iPads and may have never used a physical newspaper. I will be curious to see their reaction.

swah 15y ago
Funny how you writing "physical paper" proves your own point.

jianshen 15y ago

When someone figures this out, they should sell the reasoning to HP. I haven't wanted to buy a printer in a long time even though $99 will get me a wifi capable touch screen fax/scanner/printer/copier these days.

nacs 15y ago
Problem is HP makes money by selling ink. They, like most other printer companies, would rather sell the printer hardware at a loss and make tons of money off selling tiny amounts of ink for $20-40 a pop. This thing is a thermal printer so the only thing they could sell you is paper and you can't really charge a large premium on paper.

danielsoneg 15y ago

They've got the design down absolutely pat - the look of the item, the look of the print-outs, the site, the video - it's great. They've also got some valid uses for it in there - yeah, we've all got screens, but those screens are used for an awful lot of other stuff - this gives one quick place to find a couple useful pieces of information, a whole lot faster than otherwise. It is, however, absurdly wasteful. Anything I can read off that, I can save on my phone for a pretty comparable reading experience. I think it's the software, more than the hardware, that's attractive - Give me that information in an app on the same schedule that little box would print it, and I'd use it. It looks like a pretty good filter and delivery mechanism, but I've got no use for a bunch of scraps of thermal paper…