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... and then people wonder about competition from China. Who wouldn't want to buy a cheap printer that can use HP's industrial print heads but the firmware jus
by fxtentacle 3y ago
... and then people wonder about competition from China.
Who wouldn't want to buy a cheap printer that can use HP's industrial print heads but the firmware just asks you - the owner - how much ink you put in and it doesn't bother with any kind of DRM? By now, some of these Chinese knock-off products are truly superior to the original design they were once trying to imitate. And mostly that's just because the "original" keeps getting worse.
EDIT: just to give an example, here's the link to purchase an authentic 731 print head directly from HP in the US for $116: https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-731-designjet-printhead https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-731-designjet-printhead
They go for about $30 in authentic but used or $20 for a good factory-new counterfeit. And that printhead can also dispense UV ink like what you use for printing on plastic packaging and cans.
It's brilliant technology, made/designed in the US, and highly valued all around the world. But the HP printer that you usually buy together with this HP printhead, that's been fully enshittified.
EDIT2: this being hacker news, you might also be interested about this talk where someone builds a tiny esp32-based printer using HP print heads: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38717022 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38717022
- justinclift 3y agoInteresting. I didn't realise that Chinese knockoffs of HP printers were even a thing. Any idea if they can print without having internet connectivity? aka "lets not open the security can of worms here" :)
- fxtentacle 3y agoSome of the printers are very basic, more like a reprap 3d printer. Also they will be designed to work in factories, too. So I'd be pretty optimistic that you can buy models with SD card slot. That said, I wonder if US-made printers phoning home is truly that much better than Chinese-made printers phoning home ...
- justinclift 3y agoNeither phoning home is really acceptable, which is why "not being able to connect to the internet" covers all those bases. :)
- RajT88 3y agoI am reminded of my college days where the cheap Chinese DVD players had far better features than the expensive ones sold in the US. Plays any region? Check Plays VCD's? Check Plays DVD-R's/CD-R's? Check Plays MP3's burned to a CD/DVD? Check The price difference was huge IIRC, like 80-100 less. All this while supporting all the fancier DVD features.
- callalex 3y agoAnd they would let you skip the preroll ads and just watch the damn movie.
- RajT88 3y agoYES THIS! I had forgotten about that. Jesus Christ that was obnoxious. I recall back then buying some DVD's and then pirating the movie so I didn't have to sit through that nonsense. There's no hard and fast rules about it, but today it's even more relevant - if you pay good money for a product, you shouldn't have to sit through the ads.
- userbinator 3y agoThe last time I looked around I didn't see much in that area except what appeared to be huge industrial-scale printers, but I agree that it's a market they could definitely disrupt, like they've already done for 3D printers. There's certainly a lot of demand for a simple printer with open-source drivers + firmware, no user-hostile features, and using widely-available standard parts (and bulk ink.)
- fxtentacle 3y agoThere are already hobbyists building their own printer control units: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38717022 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38717022