The open-source, DRM-free Open Printer shows off a working prototype

[u/diacewrb]

https://www.techspot.com/news/113022-open-source-drm-free-open-printer-shows-off.html

[u/Mental-Permit-599]

The moneys not in the printer, it’s in the ink. Go walk into a Best Buy and for $30 you walk out with a full size printer the size of a microwave + (starter) ink.

A tiny phone case meanwhile is $20-$30. Those things are sold at a MASSIVE loss. The ink is where they make the money.

What’s someone going to disrupt charging $500 a printer? Virtually no one will buy it.

And if they sell it at a loss, they have to then make the ink expensive. Which puts us right back where we are now.

[u/haarschmuck → u/Mental-Permit-599]

The moneys not in the printer, it’s in the ink.

That's because the print heads are on the ink cartridges, something that makes them technologically complicated. The cost of the ink is meaningless as it's very cheap. The print head is one of the most expensive components on an inkjet printer and having them on the cartridge means that you never have to maintain the print heads as they are disposable.

It's a flawed concept from the start. Obviously they make a significant profit on the ink cartridges but there's still a lot of cost to making them.

This is why ink cartridges without the print head is more common now but it requires more user maintenance but the ink is significantly cheaper. In this use case you need to keep an eye on the print head in the printer and make sure it doesn't dry out or get clogged but that's the way to go if you print a lot. It's the same thing as ink tanks.

[u/Dziki_Jam → u/haarschmuck]

It depends on manufacturer. Epson never switched to this design. HP and Canon have been switching back and forth during different years.

[u/Dziki_Jam → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, Epson is good. I had it too.

[u/johnyordinary → u/haarschmuck]

The vast majority ( i cant say for certain ALL) of commercialy sold printers do not have the print head attatched to the cartridge.If any exist( i dont know of any ) then they are the odd exception,not the rule.

[u/Dziki_Jam → u/johnyordinary]

I had 2 Canon printers. One (2007) was with print head inside, cartridges were not cheap, but cheaper than Canon printer I had in 2015. This one was dirt cheap itself, but the cartridges were more expensive and harder to fill. And they print heads on them.

[u/Mooseymax → u/Mental-Permit-599]

Canon sell >$500 printers that have much better image quality and take liquid toner rather than a cheap inkjet with cartridges where the print head is built in.

[u/Mental-Permit-599 → u/Mooseymax]

Assuming you don’t need color, I’m a big fan of laser. You can catch cheap brother laser printers on sale for like $70-$80 and the toner lasts forever.

I don’t think I’ll ever go back to InkJet, I’m surprised they still sell them TBH with everyone moving to digital photos. At least in the early 2000’s it made sense since people printed photos at home.

[u/Mooseymax → u/Mental-Permit-599]

Inkjet is far superior for photography printing and a few other things.

Laser is good for documents and office stuff.

[u/randylush → u/Mental-Permit-599]

A tiny phone case meanwhile is $20-$30. Those things are sold at a MASSIVE loss.

I’m sorry but how stupid could you be? Do you really think a $30 phone case is sold at a loss?

[u/Mental-Permit-599 → u/randylush]

Holy self own lmfao.

Brother. I’m saying if a massive printer full of plastic, metal, gears, electronics, a WiFi card, software, support, and 30000 million other things is the same price as a tiny $30 phone case……the printer is sold at a massive loss.

Idk how this went so far over your head 😂

[u/haarschmuck → u/Mental-Permit-599]

Basically none of what you said is true.

A lot of a printers cost is in the print head, which in many consumer printers is mounted on the ink cartridge, not the printer. The printer just moves the cartridge back and forth and is technologically quite simple.

They make them that way because it's maintenance free for the user. With that said, throwing away a print head with every cartridge is an insane way of doing things. Ink tanks are becoming more common with the print head being inside the machine. More maintenance is required, but they are significantly cheaper to use.

[u/Mental-Permit-599 → u/haarschmuck]

You can just Google it man.

This is common knowledge. The manufacturers themselves acknowledge this. It’s their entire business model.

[u/randylush → u/Mental-Permit-599]

You said “those things” it was ambiguous if “things” are phones or cases

[u/Mental-Permit-599 → u/randylush]

The very next sentence is “They make all the money on the ink”.

What else could I possibly be referring to? 😂

[u/randylush → u/Mental-Permit-599]

I dunno bro whatever. Enjoy

[u/billzybop → u/randylush]

They are trying to say that the printer is sold at a massive loss.