I feel like printers, as a class of technology, have always been unreliable and prone to problems, pretty much since I started using computers 20+ years ago. This doesn't seem to have changed at all.

Is there something inherent to inks and paper that makes a simple, functional, reliable "Toyota Pickup Truck" printer impossible to create?

Mechanical device with moving parts.

Price competition creates a race to the bottom.

Third party inks (in photography forums people are always cleaning up inksplosions when they try borderless printing with off-brand inks)

Paper handling is tricky, like in my old farmhouse humidity makes paper curl. A high end printer can handle this much better.

Cheap paper, mo’ problems.

Operator error. You see reviews on sites like bestbuy.com where somebody posts photos of an inksplosion caused by putting photo paper in the wrong side up. I print photos with documentation on the back and I learned through experience that you put the lightly inked side through first otherwise the ink makes the paper curl and you get more jams.

I've had one printer in the last 5 years. It's a Brother laser-jet combo unit scanner, fax and all that jazz. It has worked flawlessly which is saying something given the room is full of radio-active dust. No special drivers I just added it through the cups web interface, type lpr filename and it prints. No paper jams. I did have to power cycle it once. I probably just jynxed it.

    lpstat -p -d
    printer Brother_MFC-L2710DW_series is idle.  enabled since Sun 01 Mar 2026 02:19:42 PM MST

The trick is to get a laser printer, honestly zero problems.

Excepting the high-end stuff, ~zero purchasers prioritize your "simple, functional, reliable".

Compared to pretty much every other tech product, printers have lots of moving parts. Especially the nightmare called paper. Talk to a engineer some time about how wildly the mechanical properties of paper can vary - even before you leave it sitting around unsealed, at whatever humidity and temperature.