Liberty's Blog: The Demise of the Photoprinter

Monday, February 18, 2008

The Demise of the Photoprinter

Mark Twain was announced that the reports of his death were premature. Perhaps The Grouse is getting a little ahead of himself with his prediction, but I was at Fryes this weekend and they were selling off Cannon Photo printers for $25.00

Let us take a moment to mourn the impending death of the Polaroid instant photo. You shall be sorely missed, my shake-and-bake friend. Sniff. And with the death of yet one more beloved but anachronistic technology, let us anticipate the imminent decline of another—the photo printer. Only this time I’ll do so with a smile.
Home inkjet printers and their ilk have for a while now embodied the best and worst of the technological state of the union, as it were. Simply put, they are mainstream products with incredibly high-end engineering, but also represent a ludicrously false economy in the worst way. And for a decade, printer companies having been laughing all the way to the bank at our expense.

I must admuit I disagree, though it is awfully hard to beat the convenience of print at home even at $5,000 a gallon ink prices. If the price of ink starts hurting Hewlett Packard's sales they will be glad to oblige with more reasonable prices, but as long as we are willing to pay they will gladly charge the exorbitant price. I for one will continue to pay.