I Believe Printers Were Sent From Hell to Make Us Miserable

Posted5 months agoActive5 months ago

soraminazuki

22 points

12 comments

theoatmeal.comTechstory

calmmixed

Debate

60/100

PrintersTechnology FrustrationHardware Reliability

Key topics

Printers

Technology Frustration

Hardware Reliability

The article laments the misery caused by printers, but the discussion reveals a nuanced view, with some defending older printers and others praising modern laser printers.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Light discussion

First comment

Peak period

3-6h

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Comment distribution12 data points

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Based on 12 loaded comments

Key moments

01Story posted
Aug 23, 2025 at 8:45 PM EDT
5 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Aug 24, 2025 at 12:14 AM EDT
3h after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
4 comments in 3-6h
Hottest window of the conversation
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04Latest activity
Aug 25, 2025 at 11:30 AM EDT
5 months ago
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Discussion (12 comments)

Showing 12 comments

SilverElfin

5 months ago

1 reply

I disagree. Maybe I am old, but I feel like printers in 1995 were easy to use, reliable, and did not play games with rejecting cartridges or making me install some random unnecessary stuff. Printers made in like 2005 and later are an abomination with nothing to compare to from the past.

jen20

5 months ago

1 reply

This is also true of washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners etc….

anonandy3

5 months ago

People...

wpm

5 months ago

1 reply

Modern IPP laser printers are about as dead simple and set and forget as a dumb lightbulb. Put paper, electricity, and a print job in, and you get printouts. No bullshit.

soraminazukiAuthor

5 months ago

2 replies

I'm not so sure. The only printers with any sort of positive reviews these days are from Brother and even they are not above doing shady stuff.

https://consumerrights.wiki/Brother_Industries_Ltd.

Note: The trailing dot is part of the link.

Arnt

5 months ago

1 reply

"There is currently no text in this page."

IIRC there were some claims of Brother doing something shady recently, Brother claimed not to, and the source of the story did not reply or substantiate their claim. What did I miss?

soraminazukiAuthor

5 months ago

The trailing dot is part of the link, but HN doesn't recognize it as such. Here's the relevant quote:

> End users have reported that Brother has initiated various methods to limit or reduce functionality on many printers prior and during usage. This includes:

> - 3rd party consumable lockout on various printer models.

> - Reduction in print capacity via software, firmware and hardware.

> - Disabling of functionality via print counters, software and firmware.

> - Nagware screens or pop-ups indicating firmware or software should be updated.

> - Limited or obfuscated information regarding effects of software or firmware update implementation.

opan

5 months ago

From what I understand, there is not a single fully trustworthy printer brand, and this can be interpreted both positively and negatively. Not all Brother printers are good (anymore?), but also not all HP printers are bad, despite their reputation. As the parent implied, I think by sticking to laser instead of inkjet, you avoid a lot of the usual printer problems. On top of that, I'd look into which printers people have had good luck using with GNU/Linux and CUPS and hear some real-world experiences, then get the same model even if that means heading to eBay. I would not just get whatever printer is on sale (in the discount sense) at a particular store.

The last printer I got was an HP monochrome laser printer I found in a thrift store. It worked surprisingly well, and I was able to find compatible toner for cheap on eBay.

Ekaros

5 months ago

1 reply

Printers are actually amazingly decent considering how hard printing arbitrary content on paper is. Dealing with single sheet of paper each time. Putting tiny dots consistently over quite large area with very exact alignment. Doing all this relatively fast...

soraminazukiAuthor

5 months ago

I mean it's not the technical sophistication that people have issue with. It's the intentionally degraded experience.

On another note, I'm not so sure about the speed either. Powering on the printer and getting it to print reminds me of how long it took to boot a computer back in the pre-Windows XP era.

burntoutgray

5 months ago

The article is dissing ink jet printers.

I have used HP, Lexmark and Brother laser jet printers and they all worked well. I did, rather naively, buy a Canon inkjet to print to print in colour -- a very big mistake. With a B&W laser I can print 99% of my needs and just pop down to the local big box office shop to print the rare colour print and photos.

devilbunny

5 months ago

If I ever gave up my old Brother laser printer, it would be to go back to an HP LaserJet 4+. Ancient. Slow. But it just never stops.

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