2023-08-09 20:51:50
HP is ready to do anything to promote its (paid) Instant Ink service. Absolutely everything.
As a reminder, Instant Ink is a subscription offered by HP, which allows you to print a certain number of pages per month depending on your package (this ranges from 10 pages per month to 700 pages per month), and to which is added a system automatic cartridge delivery when you run out of ink. The prices meanwhile vary from 99 cents per month to 24.99 euros per month.
In short, Instant Ink is one of the solutions imagined by HP in order to continue to earn money once the main expense, namely the printer), has been made. We will let you judge the relevance of such a service. But where HP really pushes the envelope too far is when some printers’ USB ports are intentionally hidden.
As a visibly disgruntled user explained on Mastodon, HP has hidden a USB port behind a sticker indicating that you have to use Wi-Fi to print documents:
“HP are real crooks. I have already posted about this very cheap printer, which strongly suggests that there is no USB, only Wifi. When I got it I figured out how to print over the network without using the app they are trying to get you to download. Turns out it’s even easier to print, just use the USB port they try to pretend doesn’t exist! No company is going to rewrite their firmware to remove the USB port. It’s even more expensive to redesign the hardware to physically get rid of the USB port. They went with the cheapest option, a small sticker. They’re just trying to store everyone’s documents in their stupid cloud service that some teenage extortion group is going to break into and leak someday. Don’t give them your data.“
The USB port is therefore fully functional. But HP reminds that in case of subscription, and especially in case of termination of this subscription, the cartridges will be rendered unusable remotely, regardless of their level of filling. In short, think twice before jumping on a “not too expensive” printer. With heavy use, you may end up paying for it in one form or another.
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