Printer manufacturers imposed the razors-and-blades business model on these clattering, unreliable gadgets, selling cheap hardware to trap customers into vastly overpriced ink. And they use every user-hostile trick and stick in the arsenal to keep them there. Bricking scanners that run out of ink. Deceptive warning stickers. Bloatware snuck into updates. DRM on everything from the ink to the machine itself. HP CEO Enrique Lores admits that customers are a "bad investment" unless they're on these hooks. "A lot of IP that we've built in the inks of the printers" is at stake!
"Every time a customer buys a printer, it's an investment for us. We are investing in that customer, and if that customer doesn't print enough or doesn't use our supplies, it's a bad investment."
When you pay $80 for a printer, you might know you don't really own it. But the financial language Lores uses here is letting you know something is owned: you.
One more time: Brother laser printers, Epson EcoTank inkjets.
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