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I've had this same idea since I also own a thermal printer, but I could never get past the wastefulness of printing a piece of paper that I would then immediate

I've had this same idea since I also own a thermal printer, but I could never get past the wastefulness of printing a piece of paper that I would then immediately throw away after reading, so I never implemented it. I still think about it periodically: there is something oddly alluring about finding a small piece of paper made specifically for me whenever I go to the kitchen in the morning. E-ink just doesn't quite feel the same.

fnordian_slip 2y ago
Yeah, I kind of expected this to be an art project decrying the wastefulness of our times, not an actual project.
- bowsamic 2y ago
  I think there's a point where it's worth waste in order to enjoy life, for example writing on paper instead of typing, or eating a burger every now and then. Not using a small amount of thermal paper each day is I think a pathological over-optimisation
  - fnordian_slip 2y ago
    Of course, it's just the symbolism of the whole thing. I now realise that my comment had a bit too much pathos, and could easily be interpreted as looking down on the creator of this harmless concept. Companies waste such an insane amount of resources on advertising alone, that this fun little project can not be seen as morally problematic. It's just so on the nose, and together with the current bad press surrounding of thermal paper due to health concerns, it felt like satire to me. But thank you for your "writing on paper" example, that was a useful one. It made me realise how my comment would have to be construed by someone lacking the context I had created in my head :)
  - serf 2y ago
    >Not using a small amount of thermal paper each day is I think a pathological over-optimisation I agree, but OP is judging interest in order to produce a product from this concept. Using a bit of thermal paper each day on a personal basis creates negligible impact, agreed -- creating a company whose primary profit motive is the sales of equipment that produces this waste? That's a different question.
captn3m0 2y ago
I've been wanting to build something similar, but can't get myself to buy a thermal print for just this project. I'll probably settle with a "Sunday Newspaper" as a compromise on my laserjet printer.
- Instantnoodl 2y ago
  You can often times find them for really cheap on the secondary market. Like old ones from a restaurant. I got quite a few for very cheap over the years. One was 20$ for a 80mm one. So maybe that's a low budget option to tinker for you? Or is the problem buying one at all?
notpushkin 2y ago
I wanna buy a dot-matrix printer for projects like that. Still would be wasting paper but at least it won’t be toxic and the result is usually more aesthetically pleasing IMO.
- adamm255 2y ago
  Like this?? https://aschmelyun.com/blog/getting-my-daily-news-from-a-dot-matrix-printer/ https://aschmelyun.com/blog/getting-my-daily-news-from-a-dot...
  - smarx007 2y ago
    Epson still makes new ones: https://epson.com/For-Work/Printers/Impact-Dot-Matrix/LX-350-Impact-Dot-Matrix-Printer/p/C11CC24001 https://epson.com/For-Work/Printers/Impact-Dot-Matrix/LX-350...
    - Schiendelman 2y ago
      Oof, barely 2/5 stars on their own website's reviews.
      - smarx007 2y ago
        Well, I always read reviews by ignoring all 1-star reviews first. Most 1-star reviews are made by disgruntled customers to grab customer service attention, a practice I detest. For example, one of the 1-star reviews says that a printer does not work on Win10 and thus is a garbage that was returned. Yeah, about that... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV9lemggOuw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV9lemggOuw sure it works on Win10
        Schiendelman 2y ago
        Certainly - I agree with you! I'm seeing that the team that owns this customer experience doesn't ensure they get enough positive reviews to break out of the noise (or fix the UX that makes installing this printer on Windows 10 difficult). Either way, it tells me this company doesn't make an effort.
pxoe 2y ago
Feels like the vibe from tech scolds in general has shifted towards "fun is wasteful". Oh well.
- iamjackg 2y ago
  It's not really a scold -- god knows I've wasted a lot of stuff for the sake of fun projects, this just happens to be past the threshold for me. Not entirely sure why. I think it might be because thermal paper feels kinda yucky: it has weird chemicals in it, it fades super quickly, and cannot be recycled. I would probably feel slightly better doing this on regular paper, although like somebody suggested I would maybe limit it to a Sunday thing.
agumonkey 2y ago
we should have miniaturized 80s electrostatic screen for that

fnordian_slip 2y ago

Yeah, I kind of expected this to be an art project decrying the wastefulness of our times, not an actual project.

bowsamic 2y ago
I think there's a point where it's worth waste in order to enjoy life, for example writing on paper instead of typing, or eating a burger every now and then. Not using a small amount of thermal paper each day is I think a pathological over-optimisation
- fnordian_slip 2y ago
  Of course, it's just the symbolism of the whole thing. I now realise that my comment had a bit too much pathos, and could easily be interpreted as looking down on the creator of this harmless concept. Companies waste such an insane amount of resources on advertising alone, that this fun little project can not be seen as morally problematic. It's just so on the nose, and together with the current bad press surrounding of thermal paper due to health concerns, it felt like satire to me. But thank you for your "writing on paper" example, that was a useful one. It made me realise how my comment would have to be construed by someone lacking the context I had created in my head :)
- serf 2y ago
  >Not using a small amount of thermal paper each day is I think a pathological over-optimisation I agree, but OP is judging interest in order to produce a product from this concept. Using a bit of thermal paper each day on a personal basis creates negligible impact, agreed -- creating a company whose primary profit motive is the sales of equipment that produces this waste? That's a different question.

captn3m0 2y ago

I've been wanting to build something similar, but can't get myself to buy a thermal print for just this project. I'll probably settle with a "Sunday Newspaper" as a compromise on my laserjet printer.

Instantnoodl 2y ago
You can often times find them for really cheap on the secondary market. Like old ones from a restaurant. I got quite a few for very cheap over the years. One was 20$ for a 80mm one. So maybe that's a low budget option to tinker for you? Or is the problem buying one at all?

notpushkin 2y ago

I wanna buy a dot-matrix printer for projects like that. Still would be wasting paper but at least it won’t be toxic and the result is usually more aesthetically pleasing IMO.

adamm255 2y ago
Like this?? https://aschmelyun.com/blog/getting-my-daily-news-from-a-dot-matrix-printer/ https://aschmelyun.com/blog/getting-my-daily-news-from-a-dot...
- smarx007 2y ago
  Epson still makes new ones: https://epson.com/For-Work/Printers/Impact-Dot-Matrix/LX-350-Impact-Dot-Matrix-Printer/p/C11CC24001 https://epson.com/For-Work/Printers/Impact-Dot-Matrix/LX-350...
  - Schiendelman 2y ago
    Oof, barely 2/5 stars on their own website's reviews.
    - smarx007 2y ago
      Well, I always read reviews by ignoring all 1-star reviews first. Most 1-star reviews are made by disgruntled customers to grab customer service attention, a practice I detest. For example, one of the 1-star reviews says that a printer does not work on Win10 and thus is a garbage that was returned. Yeah, about that... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV9lemggOuw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV9lemggOuw sure it works on Win10
      - Schiendelman 2y ago
        Certainly - I agree with you! I'm seeing that the team that owns this customer experience doesn't ensure they get enough positive reviews to break out of the noise (or fix the UX that makes installing this printer on Windows 10 difficult). Either way, it tells me this company doesn't make an effort.

pxoe 2y ago

Feels like the vibe from tech scolds in general has shifted towards "fun is wasteful". Oh well.

iamjackg 2y ago
It's not really a scold -- god knows I've wasted a lot of stuff for the sake of fun projects, this just happens to be past the threshold for me. Not entirely sure why. I think it might be because thermal paper feels kinda yucky: it has weird chemicals in it, it fades super quickly, and cannot be recycled. I would probably feel slightly better doing this on regular paper, although like somebody suggested I would maybe limit it to a Sunday thing.

agumonkey 2y ago

we should have miniaturized 80s electrostatic screen for that