4 ms·

The sooner the printer dies, the better. Every company or process that makes me print something in 2013 makes me barf. Ever heard of web forms? Docusign? Ema

The sooner the printer dies, the better. Every company or process that makes me print something in 2013 makes me barf. Ever heard of web forms? Docusign? Email? So, as beautiful as this is, it's solving a problem for 1960-1995. Now, all I want to see in the printer innovation is some way to kill it off faster.

rsync 13y ago
Amen. What better way to say "fuck you, your time is worthless" than to ask someone to print / scan / fax something. OP has cool printer design though :)
peafruit 13y ago
I still have paper copies of important documents from the 1980s. I have no idea where the digital copies from that era disappeared to. Paper has its place; it's a fantastic archival medium. I also still print out contracts to review them. They're easier to mark up that way, and I can focus entirely on the paper -- including quickly leafing through it, while comparing multiple pages -- in a way that I can't as easily do on the desktop. Paper isn't dead yet; it still has the best UX available for many common use cases.
- if_by_whisky 13y ago
  Of course you have no idea where your digital documents from the 1980's are. In 30 years you'll still have your most important digital documents from today though.
  - zxcdw 13y ago
    How? In Dropbox?
    - dasil003 13y ago
      Dropbox syncs a local folder. So yes it could be one way to bring documents forward. The paranoid among us would probably choose an alternate method, I'm sure you can think of many.
- StavrosK 13y ago
  I have no idea where any of my important paper documents are from the 1990s. All my digital documents, though, are in my "Archives" folder. This says more about which medium you and I pay most attention to, rather than how well paper archives.
  - ams6110 13y ago
    Documents printed on quality archival paper will outlast digital media, if stored properly.
    - StavrosK 13y ago
      Digital media will outlast archival paper, if copied properly.
hrktb 13y ago
I am slowly and slowly trying to go almost paperless, I hear you. And because We can now get rid of almost every boring administrative use of paper, the really intersting uses tend to stick out, and you start to print things you really wanted to. Like printing papercraft parts, big photos of anything you like, personalized trump sets, kids stories you read at bedtime. Honestly there's a lot of uses I didn't care about until there was no need to print tax forms anymore.
davidw 13y ago
This link is obligatory when speaking of the evils of printers: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers http://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers
- mmphosis 13y ago
  Either printer ink is made from unicorn blood or we're all getting screwed. I think that a more disruptive invention might be a printer that accepts inexpensive ink in bulk, a printer without proprietary tiny little cartridges with electronics that lie about how much ink is left. I understand that we definitely need to print less, and stop using trees to print. Better quality paper can be made using flax fiber. I also think that having our own printing press is still a powerful means of spreading ideas.
timdev2 13y ago
Fuck that. I don't really print much, but when I do, it's amazing that I can take something digital and put it on a piece of paper. The reason that's awesome is that I can then hang it on my fridge. Or take it with me in my pocket, without having to worry about electricity. Or, you know, one of the other thousand use cases where a printed page is more usable, reliable, or feasible than something turing-equivalent.
- dalek_cannes 13y ago
  Second that. Paper and printing should die and will die. One day. But that day is not today because none of the alternatives are ready. Recently I had to work on a project that had a 500-page spec. All my screen space was taken up by code, application and command windows (and I had a very large amount of screen space). I tried keeping the specs open on a separate screen. I tried loading it to a Kindle. Nothing was fast or convenient enough. In the end, printing and binding the spec and keeping it on my desk solved the problem (I know!). The time savings for me and my team was probably worth a hundred times more than what the printing cost. Also, beautiful concept. It takes a great mind to even think of something like this.
  - aestra 13y ago
    Exactly. Large specs are a use case I have run into a few times for printing. Anytime you have to mark up something super quick too, printing is the best method I have.
rickyc091 13y ago
What about fax machines... I can't believe some companies (ahem, AT&T) still only accept documents / requests via fax. It's ridiculous...
agumonkey 13y ago
Be patient, the web is still too much of a moving target, on average people aren't saavy enough to even not fear computer interactions. I've seen people resorting to printing large spreadsheets on A3 paper and then scan through with a ruler, pencil and sticky notes. All day long (treehugger nightmare) since they're all updating the same "database" and need constant refreshed~ printed data to work on. And arguably they're 10x more productive this way than their current usage (copy/paste is jeet kune do to them) and understanding of the messy[1] computer world. When the time is right, printing will shrink to it's minimum needed size. [1] the computer world is a gigantic mess of papercuts, for the average human, nothing makes sense, the few time it did, it changed before they could rip the benefit.
FoeNyx 13y ago
Even if I'm a proponent of reducing paper usage and planting new trees, I can think of some cases where keeping some printed paper documents could still have some benefits even nowadays, IMHO. * You need to travel in some places with no good access to internet or power source (as in a far far away country, or as in a local subway/underground of ill repute after 9pm), * You thought it would be nice to delete all your original printed copies after using a JGIB2 scanner, * You don't have the hardware or software to read your old digital copies, * Some obtuse administration refuse your digital copies, * Some benevolent but overly attached agencies, or some malevolent people, are trampling with your data in the cloud, * A Carrington-class events occurs for real, * And so on ... but luckily, all of this never ever happen, right ? ;-) As for the OP printer design it seems great, but when I see the 2 meters stack of paper in the illustration, I can't help but think that the printer will ran out of battery or ink before the middle of the stack.
timtempus 13y ago
Like the Facit typewriter that was innovated out due to the PC. They never saw it comming.
adyus 13y ago
Unfortunately, too much of human society is based on printed matter. Take shipping a box, for example. You'd still need to print a label. There's currently no way that I know of to associate that particular box to the place it's supposed to go otherwise. Disclaimer: I'm building http://ezsend.it http://ezsend.it to help people avoid the post office lines, and it would be a useless endeavor without printers :)

rsync 13y ago

Amen. What better way to say "fuck you, your time is worthless" than to ask someone to print / scan / fax something. OP has cool printer design though :)

peafruit 13y ago

I still have paper copies of important documents from the 1980s. I have no idea where the digital copies from that era disappeared to. Paper has its place; it's a fantastic archival medium. I also still print out contracts to review them. They're easier to mark up that way, and I can focus entirely on the paper -- including quickly leafing through it, while comparing multiple pages -- in a way that I can't as easily do on the desktop. Paper isn't dead yet; it still has the best UX available for many common use cases.

if_by_whisky 13y ago
Of course you have no idea where your digital documents from the 1980's are. In 30 years you'll still have your most important digital documents from today though.
- zxcdw 13y ago
  How? In Dropbox?
  - dasil003 13y ago
    Dropbox syncs a local folder. So yes it could be one way to bring documents forward. The paranoid among us would probably choose an alternate method, I'm sure you can think of many.
StavrosK 13y ago
I have no idea where any of my important paper documents are from the 1990s. All my digital documents, though, are in my "Archives" folder. This says more about which medium you and I pay most attention to, rather than how well paper archives.
- ams6110 13y ago
  Documents printed on quality archival paper will outlast digital media, if stored properly.
  - StavrosK 13y ago
    Digital media will outlast archival paper, if copied properly.

hrktb 13y ago

I am slowly and slowly trying to go almost paperless, I hear you. And because We can now get rid of almost every boring administrative use of paper, the really intersting uses tend to stick out, and you start to print things you really wanted to. Like printing papercraft parts, big photos of anything you like, personalized trump sets, kids stories you read at bedtime. Honestly there's a lot of uses I didn't care about until there was no need to print tax forms anymore.

davidw 13y ago

This link is obligatory when speaking of the evils of printers: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers http://theoatmeal.com/comics/printers

mmphosis 13y ago
Either printer ink is made from unicorn blood or we're all getting screwed. I think that a more disruptive invention might be a printer that accepts inexpensive ink in bulk, a printer without proprietary tiny little cartridges with electronics that lie about how much ink is left. I understand that we definitely need to print less, and stop using trees to print. Better quality paper can be made using flax fiber. I also think that having our own printing press is still a powerful means of spreading ideas.

timdev2 13y ago

Fuck that. I don't really print much, but when I do, it's amazing that I can take something digital and put it on a piece of paper. The reason that's awesome is that I can then hang it on my fridge. Or take it with me in my pocket, without having to worry about electricity. Or, you know, one of the other thousand use cases where a printed page is more usable, reliable, or feasible than something turing-equivalent.

dalek_cannes 13y ago
Second that. Paper and printing should die and will die. One day. But that day is not today because none of the alternatives are ready. Recently I had to work on a project that had a 500-page spec. All my screen space was taken up by code, application and command windows (and I had a very large amount of screen space). I tried keeping the specs open on a separate screen. I tried loading it to a Kindle. Nothing was fast or convenient enough. In the end, printing and binding the spec and keeping it on my desk solved the problem (I know!). The time savings for me and my team was probably worth a hundred times more than what the printing cost. Also, beautiful concept. It takes a great mind to even think of something like this.
- aestra 13y ago
  Exactly. Large specs are a use case I have run into a few times for printing. Anytime you have to mark up something super quick too, printing is the best method I have.

rickyc091 13y ago

What about fax machines... I can't believe some companies (ahem, AT&T) still only accept documents / requests via fax. It's ridiculous...

agumonkey 13y ago

Be patient, the web is still too much of a moving target, on average people aren't saavy enough to even not fear computer interactions. I've seen people resorting to printing large spreadsheets on A3 paper and then scan through with a ruler, pencil and sticky notes. All day long (treehugger nightmare) since they're all updating the same "database" and need constant refreshed~ printed data to work on. And arguably they're 10x more productive this way than their current usage (copy/paste is jeet kune do to them) and understanding of the messy[1] computer world. When the time is right, printing will shrink to it's minimum needed size. [1] the computer world is a gigantic mess of papercuts, for the average human, nothing makes sense, the few time it did, it changed before they could rip the benefit.

FoeNyx 13y ago

Even if I'm a proponent of reducing paper usage and planting new trees, I can think of some cases where keeping some printed paper documents could still have some benefits even nowadays, IMHO. * You need to travel in some places with no good access to internet or power source (as in a far far away country, or as in a local subway/underground of ill repute after 9pm), * You thought it would be nice to delete all your original printed copies after using a JGIB2 scanner, * You don't have the hardware or software to read your old digital copies, * Some obtuse administration refuse your digital copies, * Some benevolent but overly attached agencies, or some malevolent people, are trampling with your data in the cloud, * A Carrington-class events occurs for real, * And so on ... but luckily, all of this never ever happen, right ? ;-) As for the OP printer design it seems great, but when I see the 2 meters stack of paper in the illustration, I can't help but think that the printer will ran out of battery or ink before the middle of the stack.

timtempus 13y ago

Like the Facit typewriter that was innovated out due to the PC. They never saw it comming.

adyus 13y ago

Unfortunately, too much of human society is based on printed matter. Take shipping a box, for example. You'd still need to print a label. There's currently no way that I know of to associate that particular box to the place it's supposed to go otherwise. Disclaimer: I'm building http://ezsend.it http://ezsend.it to help people avoid the post office lines, and it would be a useless endeavor without printers :)