Every home printer I’ve owned, regardless of the brand, has been difficult to set up in the first place and then will stop working from time to time without an obvious reason until it eventually craps out. Even when consistently using the maintenance functions.
In: Technology
Home printers are like the toys you got as a kid. They seem fun at first, but they’re made with cheaper parts to keep the price low. This means they break easily and are hard to fix. Also, companies make more money from selling you ink than the printer itself. So, they don’t have a big reason to make the printer super fancy and long-lasting. They want you to keep buying new ones and more ink.
Printer companies make their money by making printers that don’t last very long. We call this “planned obsolescence” in business. They do this by making the ink cartridges run out quickly, by designing the printers to break after a certain amount of time, and by releasing software updates that make older printers stop working. They also use marketing to make people want to buy new printers, even if they don’t need them. And they make it so that you have to buy their expensive ink cartridges and other supplies. It’s a big scam, and it’s really annoying..
My suggestion to beat the printer industry, is to ditch traditional inkjet printers. Consider an EcoTank printer with refillable ink tanks, dramatically reducing ink costs. If you print a lot, a laser printer, though pricey upfront, might be cheaper in the long run due to toner lasting longer. If you don’t need color, a black and white laser printer is a great option. Finally, if possible, switch to digital documents and e-signatures to reduce the need for printing altogether.
TLDR: Home printers are made to be cheap and break easily. Companies make more money selling ink than printers, so they don’t want them to last. To avoid the trap, try EcoTank or laser printers, or go digital when you can.
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