The Devil's in the Printer
PRINTER INKS
Back in the dark ages of journalism, young apprentices were bound for years to a master printer, who taught the young men the arts of printing. Such an apprentice was called a “printer’s devil.” They don’t exist anymore. Instead, the devil seems to be IN the printer.
Recently (May 17, 2007), the New York Times presented a column on the section front of “Business Day” which touted the arrival of a new printer by the Kodak company that offers the promise of less-overpriced ink. As we all know, companies like HP and Epson are really in the ink business. They sell us printers very cheaply, only to get us hooked as customers so that they can sell us ink very expensively.
So, a company offering truly cheaper ink would actually be pretty big news.
But that’s not the only problem with printers and their inks. In my experience, the real problem is that the ink cartridges are so small that I am always running out of ink. And it seems that I am always running out of ink at the worst possible times – in the middle of the night, or when I have a huge project due, or (even worse!) when my kids have a huge project due.
What I’d like to see is a printer that comes with a lifetime supply. Now, THAT would be progress.
Back in the dark ages of journalism, young apprentices were bound for years to a master printer, who taught the young men the arts of printing. Such an apprentice was called a “printer’s devil.” They don’t exist anymore. Instead, the devil seems to be IN the printer.
Recently (May 17, 2007), the New York Times presented a column on the section front of “Business Day” which touted the arrival of a new printer by the Kodak company that offers the promise of less-overpriced ink. As we all know, companies like HP and Epson are really in the ink business. They sell us printers very cheaply, only to get us hooked as customers so that they can sell us ink very expensively.
So, a company offering truly cheaper ink would actually be pretty big news.
But that’s not the only problem with printers and their inks. In my experience, the real problem is that the ink cartridges are so small that I am always running out of ink. And it seems that I am always running out of ink at the worst possible times – in the middle of the night, or when I have a huge project due, or (even worse!) when my kids have a huge project due.
What I’d like to see is a printer that comes with a lifetime supply. Now, THAT would be progress.
posted by Chris Daly at 10:33 AM
1 Comments:
I agree! This year I just gave up and used my BU printing quota. It was pretty inconvenient when I had to run to Cummington in the middle of the night, but I certainly saved money.
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