IoT is not for me.
"most" might not, I can't claim anything there and EFF claims most don't, when they were checking on it in 2015-2017. I'm pretty darn sure that some do though.
There are also databases cataloging the specific printing characteristics of various models of printers and research has demonstrated that it's possible to trace documents back to individual printers based on slight variations in how they print.
That "feature" and incompetence at The Intercept leaked the identity of Reality Winner.
I expect the printer to use whatever inks it has on hand to print in the best quality it can.
The use of ink is an inevitability.
It always struck me as one of those things analogous to “I don’t understand why my car needs oil when I already put gas in it.”
Just give the machine the stuff it requires to operate.
For all you know, the black ink isn’t really a perfect black and the color inks are used in conjunction with the black ink.
I also think a lot of people are just being cheap about it. It’s just not a big deal.
In my experience a color inkjet printer makes a much better print than a black and white laser printer. If you are willing to sacrifice print quality then buy a black and white laser printer.
Do you?
Monotone printers are a thing and have been since the 60's.
If you want a monotone printer, buy one. I just have a little bit of confusion around the situation where people who bought color inkjet printers aren’t willing to put color ink in the printer.
I’m pretty sure the reasoning for color ink cartridges relying on both sets of cartridges is that the “black” cartridge is no longer perfectly black in that configuration.
Anyone who runs out of color ink presumably could run out of black ink or run out of paper, too, because they weren’t keeping necessary supplies on hand.
So really the only cognitive adjustment they need to make is to tell themselves “this printer requires two cartridges to operate” rather than making a blind assumption that it will work with just one.
I would be surprised if this wasn’t already disclosed in the user manual as well.
The psychological justifications don’t matter. This is how the machine works. If you don’t want that machine then you buy a different printer.
Your steadfast refusal to acknowledge this obvious point makes me wonder whether you work in the hp inkjet division designing ways to piss off customers. I suspect you understand it quite well, though, and are just enjoying being a contrarian.
I bought a color laser in 2004 and I’ve never replaced the C M or Y toner because I almost never print color. Miraculously, it is still happy to print “imperfect” black and white, which is exactly what I want.
I think that this definition of “user-hostile” depends on a deliberate misinterpretation of the requirements of running the device.
If we just change our frame of reference to hold the expectation that “all ink supplies supplies must be sufficient for it to operate” it seems perfectly reasonable to me.
I dunno, maybe I just have an aversion to broken shit being in my house. Maybe you’re right, maybe it would be better to have some kind of “emergency” functionality for the times when I forget to refill ink. I also just keep spare ink cartridges so I’m never rushing out to buy another one. This is, to me, part of being a functioning adult.
I wouldn’t really allow the things I own to be broken or out of supplies if they’re things I rely on.
These are $30-50 ink cartridges, and many inkjet printers have cheaper refill supplies with the popularity of ink tank designs where you can refill them yourself including third party ink without the need to buy new ink cartridges.
There’s just so much outrage around this subject for no reason if you ask me. People barely print anymore anyway, I think it’s time we get over it.
You don't, either.
Black ink is all that's required to print B&W documents. Period. No one designs a black ink to be supplemented by another color before it achieves "full blackness". That's literally the entire point of black ink.
A printer can still print black when color ink is gone
Humans have historically been able to decide when quality is low enough that replacement/repair is necessary in these situations. This goes for almost anything: appliances, farming equipment, clothing, etc.
Having a device/appliance/tool that decides for you that “it’s time”, especially when the manufacturer has a vested interest in coercing you into a buying a replacement right away, takes away that owner agency.
I just don’t think it’s a big deal to consider the printer a device that requires all inks to be present to function properly. If the printer is consuming some color inks in order to print black colors better the implication is that less black ink is being consumed. Either way you’re buying ink.
Some people are just cheap.
Your unpreparedness on your kids’ homework isn’t the fault of the manufacturer. I can’t blame Ticonderoga if I run out of pencils.
If you ran out of black ink you’d be similarly in trouble.
Let’s make another analogy: two wheels fall off my car. You tell me “hey, motorcycles exist, you can still use that car!!”
But my car isn’t a motorcycle, it’s a car.
If you buy a printer that requires two cartridges to function then you keep both cartridges filled to keep it functioning.
I’ve always felt like this whole discussion has mostly surrounded people who are penny pinching to an extreme level that doesn’t make sense. You didn’t run out of color ink because you never printed in color. And if you never printed in color you wouldn’t have bought a color printer. You’ve gotta refill your color ink eventually.
This is the same thing as people who add water to their liquid hand soap to try and make it last longer. It just makes the soap gross and saves 10 cents at best.
I can find some Brother monochrome laser printers for $70 on eBay.
And here we are talking about a difference in cost of roughly $35 or the price of a meal for 2 at Chipotle.
Would you say that it’s unfair that the Toyota Prius costs more to purchase than a Nissan Sentra but the Prius costs less to operate due to having much better fuel efficiency?
Are consumers somehow unable to understand why they might choose invest more up front?
That analogy doesn’t hold up. You have other colour pencils at hand, but you can’t use them because the blue pencil is worn down. Let me use my goshdarn pencils.
There are 0 other reasons, you being ignorant of basic facts and repeating your weird mantra doesn't change that.
In consumer models it is security theater for politicians to claim prints can be tracked and for the consumers to use/waste more ink and buy more.
It doesn't need that to operate, except in certain situations. The odds of being hit by a windshield-high wave of mud by a passing truck, when the sky is clear, are very low.
That doesn’t hold up because I didn’t buy a motorcycle, I bought a car.
If you buy a color printer it needs two cartridges to have ink in order to function.
If people would just realize that and accept it as reality the issue becomes much less of a big deal.
Let’s keep in mind that plenty of tank style inkjet printers exist where refills are trivially expensive and third party refills are allowed.
This whole subject is just one of those “I dilute my liquid hand soap to save 10 cents” issues where it seems super unappealing to me.
These hypothetical scenarios where we run out of color ink the day before the big homework assignment is due and now my draconian printer won’t let me print…I dunno, it just seems like blame shifting. How hard is it to keep a spare ink cartridge around?
If you have a fancy modulating furnace and variable speed compressor or a variable speed heat pump, a thermostat that uses a PID would work better.
As far as the company is concerned it's primary job is personal data collection and being an ad platform. Anything else it does, like keeping your food cold, is an optional feature that can be remotely disabled at any time.
We have a mix of splits, central air, and gas baseboard, so being able to customize all that to fit our utility pricing time slots is a dream.