3 ms·
What the article doesn't mention is how cheap printers are. $50 for a printer/scanner combo is really cheap, inkjet printers are high-precision machines and pap
by GuB-42 2y ago
What the article doesn't mention is how cheap printers are. $50 for a printer/scanner combo is really cheap, inkjet printers are high-precision machines and paper is finicky. Notice how you don't find cheap knockoff printers on AliExpress, like they do with most consumer electronics, they just can't compete. You can find knockoff cartridges though.
Printer manufacturers are not fundamentally evil, they just have a business model that rely on expensive ink. Make it so that they can't use that business model anymore and printers will become much more expensive (like the "ecotank" line). Maybe it is a good thing, but you can't have your cake and eat it too. 3rd party cartridges for cheap printers are a hack, it only works when it is not widespread enough so that printer manufacturers can still make profit thanks to those who buy the overpriced ink.
- fy20 2y agoIs this the same for large format printers? Because they even have region locking. A friend bought his Epson used from Germany for around €7500. During COVID times he needed more ink, but his supplier said it would be a month or two due to supply chain issues. He borrowed a cartridge from a friend who had the correct colour, but his printer wouldn't recognize as it, as our part of Europe is a different region to Germany (ink is the same price in both). He even spoke to unofficial technicians to see if they could unlock it, but the only solution would be replacing the motherboard to change the region.