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As a sysadmin of many decades, I have not owned a printer in 15 years, and no self respecting tech worker I know would ever have one of them in their home. I d

As a sysadmin of many decades, I have not owned a printer in 15 years, and no self respecting tech worker I know would ever have one of them in their home. I do have an enterprise grade network, next gen firewall, a homelab, and a host of vlans with home automation segmented off to a dedicated network with zero internet access

rjzzleep 4y ago
Brother used to have this HL2030 which worked forever and was dirt cheap. I'd keep one if you could still buy them and if I wasn't travelling them. Doesn't require a host of vlans either. "no self respecting tech worker". But yeah, have fun with your enterprise grade network. Hyperbole much?
- phpisthebest 4y ago
  It is not hyperbolic, it is retired enterprise equipment I got for a very good price and yes I have great fun with it.
  - tommica 4y ago
    But you're screwed if you need to print something :(
    - phpisthebest 4y ago
      Like what? Everyone should be paperless these days. What exactly do you still need to print?
      - californical 4y ago
        Bills need to be mailed to my health insurance company if I want to be reimbursed for anything — no online uploads whatsoever, and this is for one of the major national companies that everyone knows.
        vba616 4y ago
        Every medical practice I know of still has a fax number, in 2022.
        3np 4y ago
        You're most likely in a different environment than the person you're replying to. Dynamics around landline numbers can also have surprising variance between countries.
      - AlbertCory 4y ago
        Should be, maybe, but isn't. To give one trivial example: if you're selling vinyl records on Discogs, you need to print the mailing address to put it on the package.
        lmm 4y ago
        Where I live you'd upload that to the post office and they give you a QR code you can use when you hand the package over. (OK you probably wouldn't, but you can)
      - vba616 4y ago
        You wouldn't be saying "everyone should be paperless" if everyone was paperless!
      - AceyMan 4y ago
        try having a middle-schooler with homework projects to do.
      - Kerrick 4y ago
        Shipping labels. Print & play board/card games. Photographs and other art for decorating physical space. Proxy/playtest cards for trading card games. Sewing & craft patterns. Table tents for events. Flyers & brochures for local clubs. Packing slips for items sold online. Study materials for use in proctored open-book tests.
        eternityforest 4y ago
        I use a Bluetooth pocket size printer for shipping labels, but I unfortunately couldn't do without my color inkjet, even though I only use it a few times a year. I'm really hoping they come out with some kind of A4 size color thermal printer for all these one off use cases. It's just paper with chemicals on it, it probably shouldn't be more than 20 cents a page or so if it were scaled up to be the dominant type of home printing.
      - zingmars 4y ago
        Shipping labels, tickets etc. Printers suck, but I can rely on paper being suitable for its purpose. Can't say that about most alternatives (mostly phone apps).
      - kelnos 4y ago
        I resisted having a printer for many many many years (part because I didn't want to lose the space it'd take up, part because I don't want to deal with the toner cartels, and part just because I didn't think I needed one and it was fine to make a trip to FedEx Office when I did), but finally caved in a couple years ago. I'm surprised at how often I use it and find it useful, and how little a hassle it's turned out to be. (It is also a scanner, which I've found just as useful as the printing aspect.) "Everyone should be paperless" -- either you live in a country with a unusually advanced, tech-minded government, or you're just completely out of touch with a normal person's needs in a place like the US.
        phpisthebest 4y ago
        I live in the US, never needed to print shipping labels, never needed to print craft things (my hobby is electronics), and I have dedicated document scanners to convert the few things that still come on paper into electronic documents
vba616 4y ago
"Printer" doesn't imply "wireless connection" necessarily. A lot of "smart" devices can be used without giving them access to the world. Just. don't. give. them. your. password.
- mnw21cam 4y ago
  Seriously, what is it with wireless? My printer connects to my computer via USB.
jfoutz 4y ago
I have an old hp laser jet I keep around. Occasionally I’ll hook it up to print things out of spite.
fragmede 4y ago
It's 2022. If you don't have at least one 3D printer, I'm afraid you'll have to turn in your "self-respecting tech worker" card.
katbyte 4y ago
Have a cheap laser printer wired on lan. Use it maybe every 2-3 months. Useful when you don’t have an office to print things at (I got it the year I started working at home)
kelnos 4y ago
That's... a little extreme. I have a printer, and it's... fine. > I do have an enterprise grade network, next gen firewall, a homelab, and a host of vlans with home automation segmented off to a dedicated network with zero internet access You're not a typical tech worker.
- washadjeffmad 4y ago
  Even for prosumer IT, those features aren't unusual. Big communities exist online for it now, but a majority of the young professionals we interview have AV/IT racks at home, usually outfitted with a 3D printer or two on top. Whether it's for their home theaters, their video work, or some general labbing or engineering, they're proud of them, and it doesn't hurt to demonstrate investment into their interests and working knowledge. It might not be typical of coders who favor high mobility or other software-only roles like application support and front end, or it might just be regional since we're in a tech and research hub surrounded by colo facilities and data centers, but it's kind of funny how naked and vulnerable people look when they come in with just a MacBook loaded with their livelihoods.

rjzzleep 4y ago

Brother used to have this HL2030 which worked forever and was dirt cheap. I'd keep one if you could still buy them and if I wasn't travelling them. Doesn't require a host of vlans either. "no self respecting tech worker". But yeah, have fun with your enterprise grade network. Hyperbole much?

phpisthebest 4y ago
It is not hyperbolic, it is retired enterprise equipment I got for a very good price and yes I have great fun with it.
- tommica 4y ago
  But you're screwed if you need to print something :(
  - phpisthebest 4y ago
    Like what? Everyone should be paperless these days. What exactly do you still need to print?
    - californical 4y ago
      Bills need to be mailed to my health insurance company if I want to be reimbursed for anything — no online uploads whatsoever, and this is for one of the major national companies that everyone knows.
      - vba616 4y ago
        Every medical practice I know of still has a fax number, in 2022.
        3np 4y ago
        You're most likely in a different environment than the person you're replying to. Dynamics around landline numbers can also have surprising variance between countries.
    - AlbertCory 4y ago
      Should be, maybe, but isn't. To give one trivial example: if you're selling vinyl records on Discogs, you need to print the mailing address to put it on the package.
      - lmm 4y ago
        Where I live you'd upload that to the post office and they give you a QR code you can use when you hand the package over. (OK you probably wouldn't, but you can)
    - vba616 4y ago
      You wouldn't be saying "everyone should be paperless" if everyone was paperless!
    - AceyMan 4y ago
      try having a middle-schooler with homework projects to do.
    - Kerrick 4y ago
      Shipping labels. Print & play board/card games. Photographs and other art for decorating physical space. Proxy/playtest cards for trading card games. Sewing & craft patterns. Table tents for events. Flyers & brochures for local clubs. Packing slips for items sold online. Study materials for use in proctored open-book tests.
      - eternityforest 4y ago
        I use a Bluetooth pocket size printer for shipping labels, but I unfortunately couldn't do without my color inkjet, even though I only use it a few times a year. I'm really hoping they come out with some kind of A4 size color thermal printer for all these one off use cases. It's just paper with chemicals on it, it probably shouldn't be more than 20 cents a page or so if it were scaled up to be the dominant type of home printing.
    - zingmars 4y ago
      Shipping labels, tickets etc. Printers suck, but I can rely on paper being suitable for its purpose. Can't say that about most alternatives (mostly phone apps).
    - kelnos 4y ago
      I resisted having a printer for many many many years (part because I didn't want to lose the space it'd take up, part because I don't want to deal with the toner cartels, and part just because I didn't think I needed one and it was fine to make a trip to FedEx Office when I did), but finally caved in a couple years ago. I'm surprised at how often I use it and find it useful, and how little a hassle it's turned out to be. (It is also a scanner, which I've found just as useful as the printing aspect.) "Everyone should be paperless" -- either you live in a country with a unusually advanced, tech-minded government, or you're just completely out of touch with a normal person's needs in a place like the US.
      - phpisthebest 4y ago
        I live in the US, never needed to print shipping labels, never needed to print craft things (my hobby is electronics), and I have dedicated document scanners to convert the few things that still come on paper into electronic documents

vba616 4y ago

"Printer" doesn't imply "wireless connection" necessarily. A lot of "smart" devices can be used without giving them access to the world. Just. don't. give. them. your. password.

mnw21cam 4y ago
Seriously, what is it with wireless? My printer connects to my computer via USB.

jfoutz 4y ago

I have an old hp laser jet I keep around. Occasionally I’ll hook it up to print things out of spite.

fragmede 4y ago

It's 2022. If you don't have at least one 3D printer, I'm afraid you'll have to turn in your "self-respecting tech worker" card.

katbyte 4y ago

Have a cheap laser printer wired on lan. Use it maybe every 2-3 months. Useful when you don’t have an office to print things at (I got it the year I started working at home)

kelnos 4y ago

That's... a little extreme. I have a printer, and it's... fine. > I do have an enterprise grade network, next gen firewall, a homelab, and a host of vlans with home automation segmented off to a dedicated network with zero internet access You're not a typical tech worker.

washadjeffmad 4y ago
Even for prosumer IT, those features aren't unusual. Big communities exist online for it now, but a majority of the young professionals we interview have AV/IT racks at home, usually outfitted with a 3D printer or two on top. Whether it's for their home theaters, their video work, or some general labbing or engineering, they're proud of them, and it doesn't hurt to demonstrate investment into their interests and working knowledge. It might not be typical of coders who favor high mobility or other software-only roles like application support and front end, or it might just be regional since we're in a tech and research hub surrounded by colo facilities and data centers, but it's kind of funny how naked and vulnerable people look when they come in with just a MacBook loaded with their livelihoods.