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The trick is that an open hardware printer would likely have much cheaper cartridges, and typically people spend much much more on the ink than the printer. So
by xypage 4y ago
The trick is that an open hardware printer would likely have much cheaper cartridges, and typically people spend much much more on the ink than the printer. So even if the printer comes out as more expensive they can price gouge less on ink and still come out as the economical choice
- detaro 4y agoPeople that buy printers for printing a lot already optimize for that though, and thus buy printers with cheap ink/toner. And inks and their formulation are a big hurdle for a good open design: Either you pick some off-the-shelf vendor ink at whatever that costs, or you now also need to specify and enable ink production.
- prmoustache 4y agoMost people would be happy with black and white printer for home and I don't think ink formulation is that much a hurdle in that particular context. Home printing is mostly driven by: - children asking for coloring pages to their parents - quickly copying/printing documents for admin stuff Both do not need color. Any time a professionnal and colored output is needed, most people turn to professionnal copy/printing services.
- detaro 4y agoSo the target to beat is a ~100$ laser printer with a ~$0.04 per page materials cost then.
- bluGill 4y agoMost people would save money by sending they print to a nearby store and paying $.20/page. Sure in theory the printer they have at home is much cheaper, but for the amount they print vs the life of a printer in reality their printer is much more expensive. Plus they can choose color (extra cost), photo quality (much higher cost, but quality they can't get at home) when they want it.