From: "Antti Kurenniemi" 

Is this for real? Seems really fucked up, even for a marketoid thinking...


Antti Kurenniemi

"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in
message news:4575ce1d$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> First HP timebombs the print tanks now, not satisfied,  they target the
> printheads.  Hopefully their printer sales will timebomb
>
> http://weblog.infoworld.com/gripeline/archives/2006/12/hps_timebombed.html?so
urce=NLC-GRIPE2006-12-05
>
>
> It's not that much of a surprise anymore to discover printer manufacturers
> embedding chips in their ink cartridges to force customers to buy more
> consumables. But one reader feels that HP went a little too far when it
> included an automatic expiration date in the printheads as well in one of
> its high-end ink jet models.
>
>
>
> "I have an HP DesignJet 10PS that I paid a considerable sum of
money for,"
> the reader wrote. "This printer is used for the printing of color proofs
> for a printing firm and is driven by a specialized RIP driver. What makes
> me mad as hell is that the printheads are supposed to have a life of
> 25,000 prints. What they don't tell you when you buy the printer is that
> within a few days of a date stamped on the printheads, the printheads will
> die. The same seems to apply for the ink tanks."
>
> ..
>
> As the reader uses the printer only for occasional jobs, the cost of
> having to replace printheads and ink cartridges every two years is
> particularly grating. "The printer gets light use, so I figure that it
> costs me about $20.00 per print when I factor in the time bomb in the
> printheads. And I can't buy spares for fear they will time out before
> installation. Why can't they sell a printer that works until things wear
> out instead of putting a time bomb chip in the parts? What ever happened
> to the leader in printing solutions? RIP HP, I will never buy from you
> again, nor will I let a client make the mistake of buying an HP printer."
>
>

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