We’ll ask it again, why aren’t we building our own printers? We’re building 3d printers, CNC mills, and hacking the ink cartridges on commercial printers. What does it really take to build say a 300 dpi black and white printer? Something that lets you clean and service the print head rather than throwing it out when the ink reservoir is empty?
Someone has set out to answer these question with the Openprinter project. If this interests you, join up and start the revolution. RepRap had simple beginnings and maybe it’s time to take the army of self-replicating 3D printers and use them to print parts for 2D printers that don’t drive us crazy.
[via LostScrews]
The question is.
Is the high cost of ink, 6000 times the price of something like gasoline, intentional?
Is the vertical and horizontal monopolies intentional?
CDs standardized, VHS tapes Standardized, Cassette Tapes standardized, as did batteries, and many other items to facilitate a free market. Printing Ink has become more controlled, and more expensive, with direct attempts to inhibit any low cost printing.
Anything printed on paper can not be changed, nor can it be monitored to see who is reading it, or when they read it.
So attempting to limit printing is a social policy to increase control by groups that want to control all information.
The monopolies in printing is a direct violation of free speech rights, and right to a free press.
The high price of ink, and the lack of standardization allowing anyone to refill or produce ink is an intentional action to try and control information exchange, and is illegal and unconstitutional.
Ben Franklin, and his French Allies will have something to say about such a blatant and obvious attack on liberty.
If you want to make millions, make a printer, that prints at the max needed resolution for 90% of households, 1200 dpi or even 600 dpi, that can print hundreds of pages before needing a refill, and with cartridges that are the actual market price of the product.
Presuming some cabal would not stop you from selling the product.
And the ink price is intentionally inflated, because printed pages can’t be tracked, and they can’t find out what someone is reading if it is on paper.
And considering that most of us could build such a printer, you know if there was actually a competitive market, there would be such products on the market.
inkjet plotter are quite expensive!!
I would like to transform an old inkjet printer into a 60′ plotter!