Razors and Blades

photo credit: Zixii

I own six printers.

I live in a household with two people, my wife and I, we have four computers in use and we own six printers. Six. Three for every person, one and a half for every computer.

The best part is, only one of them is actually in use and, even then, only sparingly.

So why do we own so many printers when the one set up sees less use than a rainmaker in New Orleans? The answer is simple: Cost and the pricing model set up by the manufacturers.

As messed up as this situation is, it isn’t our screwup. Rather, it is the entire printer industry that has created this problem. They’re why I can’t get into my office closet, why I keep finding “printer install” disks every time I look for my Diablo 2 CDs and why I have about a dozen “mystery cords” in my collection of spare parts.

It is time for someone to stand up and fix this. Not only for the sake of sanity, but for the sake of the environment and the people’s whose jobs are being held up by a flimsy business model that blows over in a gentle breeze. Read more