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 2 hours 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 2 hours 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.

	▲	Grombobulous 28 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Alternatively, the printer allows you to keep going regardless of status of the print ink and then the printer gets bad reviews and complaints about bad print quality. Your unpreparedness on your kids’ homework isn’t the fault of the manufacturer. I can’t blame Ticonderoga if I run out of pencils. If you ran out of black ink you’d be similarly in trouble.

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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.

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Citizen_Lame an hour ago | parent [-]

He also supports ID verification on phones/computers. Probably some troll.

	▲	Grombobulous 27 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Having opinions doesn’t make me a troll, please don’t assume mal-intentions. I am presenting my opinions and having good faith discussions.

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jaapz 2 hours 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 2 hours 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.

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Grombobulous 2 hours 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.

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hamburglar 4 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

You are bending over backwards to justify this user hostile practice. Most people wouldn’t choose to not print at all just because it “isn’t really a perfect black.” They’re just trying to get their homework printed.

I bought a color laser in 2004 and I’ve never replaced the C M or Y toner because I almost never print color. Miraculously, it is still happy to print “imperfect” black and white, which is exactly what I want.

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Ensorceled 35 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

> 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.

Do you?

Monotone printers are a thing and have been since the 60's.

	▲	Grombobulous 26 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I agree, monotone printers are available technology, and monotone printers have worse output quality than a color inkjet printer. If you want a monotone printer, buy one. I just have a little bit of confusion around the situation where people who bought color inkjet printers aren’t willing to put color ink in the printer.