Similar to when printer stops printing black when color is gone.

whizzter an hour ago | parent | next [-]

That probably means you've been wasting toner on "enhanced darkness" (check if it's turned on/off).

	▲	pygy_ an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		No, it’s because it can’t print the yellow dots watermark for tracking. That "feature" and incompetence at The Intercept leaked the identity of Reality Winner.
	▲	account42 an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Color inkjets demand color ink for tracking dots even if it isn't used for anything else.

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Grombobulous an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

I have never understood the negative controversy around this.

I expect the printer to use whatever inks it has on hand to print in the best quality it can.

The use of ink is an inevitability.

It always struck me as one of those things analogous to “I don’t understand why my car needs oil when I already put gas in it.”

Just give the machine the stuff it requires to operate.

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xattt an hour ago | parent | next [-]

A device like a printer can work without certain inks without damage, but at the cost of quality.

Humans have historically been able to decide when quality is low enough that replacement/repair is necessary in these situations. This goes for almost anything: appliances, farming equipment, clothing, etc.

Having a device/appliance/tool that decides for you that “it’s time”, especially when the manufacturer has a vested interest in coercing you into a buying a replacement right away, takes away that owner agency.

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Grombobulous an hour ago | parent [-]

My printer could theoretically print a black and white page in magneta when my black ink runs out, too. But logically, it doesn’t want to do that.

I just don’t think it’s a big deal to consider the printer a device that requires all inks to be present to function properly. If the printer is consuming some color inks in order to print black colors better the implication is that less black ink is being consumed. Either way you’re buying ink.

Some people are just cheap.

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kstrauser an hour ago | parent | next [-]

It’s not cheapness. My kid couldn’t print her homework because I was low on cyan. It’s not that I don’t want to buy more ink, but that the thing I was printing only needed black. If it weren’t a color printer, the output would’ve been identical and it wouldn’t have needed cyan.

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kakacik an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

No, its tracking dots if you send a criminal printed letter for ransom, they will track you down very quickly. Some people don't like being tracked continuously.

There are 0 other reasons, you being ignorant of basic facts and repeating your weird mantra doesn't change that.

	▲	Citizen_Lame 27 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		He also supports ID verification on phones/computers. Probably some troll.

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jaapz an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Your engine explodes when it doesnt have oil.

A printer can still print black when color ink is gone

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Ensorceled an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

This is disingenuous; a car needs both gas and oil to run. A printer should only need black ink to print black and white documents.

	▲	Grombobulous an hour ago \| parent [-]
		That’s what you think, though, you didn’t design the printer. I assume you don’t have a background in color theory or chemistry or whatever else you need to produce ink. For all you know, the black ink isn’t really a perfect black and the color inks are used in conjunction with the black ink. I also think a lot of people are just being cheap about it. It’s just not a big deal. In my experience a color inkjet printer makes a much better print than a black and white laser printer. If you are willing to sacrifice print quality then buy a black and white laser printer.