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I have a strange confession to do. I love my printer. I love the wild eyes of a convert that wants everyone to know. (Yes, I am very fun at dinner, why questions?) I am not the only one. My machine, a very boring black and white brother printer, has A dedicated monitoring. It is not because doing something special. It is because it is alone. . . works.
This phenomenon, of the people who are pathetically grateful in the year 2025 having found a product that does what it should do, tells an interesting story about capitalism and consumer psychology at a time of technological change.
I only love my printer because I have had many terrible in the past: ink with an ink price like champagne; obstructed nozzles; paper jams; Connection problems. In the United States, people hate both printers you can pay to enter a “Rage Room” and crush them. Many have renounced the idea that anything less horrible can be. “Stop waiting for printers” just work ” He urged a gloomy article of the New York Times In 2016. “Most of you will hate something about any printer you buy, and there is nothing I can do about it.” Even printer creators know the score. In 2023, HP produced a advertisement of an enraged man kicking an off -table printer, with the motto “made to be less hated.”
At the discontent root is the business model of “knife and blades” of the industry, which implies selling ink jet printers in a very economical way and then obtaining the profits of high margin ink cartridges. It is more likely that cheap hardware will be weak and unreliable, which enrages customers. The expensive ink cartridges also enraged customers, especially when printer companies Try to stop Instead, they use the cheapest ink of other brands.
But if consumers see companies as bad in this story, then companies probably see consumers who do not want to buy their ink in the same way. As expressed by the executive director of HP, Enrique Lores In an interview With CNBC last year: “We lose money in the hardware, we earn money in supplies.
Is there any escape from this mutual disappointment loop? The strange thing is that this is not a market that lacks options. Laser printers such as mine (other models and brands are available) use toner instead of ink, which is less problematic and does not dry if only use it only. They are a little more expensive in advance and the toner looks expensive on paper, but it lasts a lot of time (I’ve only had to replace my first cartridge after five years). It does not print in color, but when I want photos, I only ask them online. Other people talk very well about ink printers that cost a lot to buy, but almost nothing to run.
Even in a world of abundant information online, it is an interesting wrinkle of capitalism that so many people continue to buy printers that hate. Some people cannot afford to spend more in advance, of course. For others, the information and choice overload could be part of the problem. Psychological studies suggest That when people face difficult decisions, they tend to light by the default value. Add to that the rooted pessimism that whispers “all printers are garbage anyway, so I can go for the cheapest.”
A way to put an end to this unfortunate story would be for people to stop having printers completely. In fact, this is the way things go, thanks to a world where you can do more and more through screens, from signing a contract to addressing a flight. In his Annual Report 2024HP pointed out “continuous secular challenges related to, among other things, a decrease in demand for printing and solutions as a result of greater digitalization and hybrid work.”
But as the domestic printer market decreases, the inducting dynamics of anger could be intensified. Customers who do not think they need to use a printer will often be more tempted to look for the cheapest ink jet option. Its rare use of the ink jet will mean that the nozzles are more likely to obstruct. Meanwhile, the fact that these customers do not print much with their machines below the cost means that companies could feel the need to block them more and more aggressively in their ink and push new products such as subscriptions, of which people also complain.
With apologies to Antonio Gramsci, the Old World is dying, and the New World has not yet been born. One day, we will not need homemade printers at all. Meanwhile, just buy a black and white laser and please me later.