There undoubtedly are those who think this Blog has ended (some might say, mercifully). SURPRISE!
I'm still alive and kickin', a Covid bout in March notwithstanding, and still interested in things HP. It's just that my connections with the company have been much more modest in recent years, and if there's nothing to say except pass along Obituaries of PIPs (Previously Important People), it seems almost wasted ink.
Oh, THERE's a topic. INK, as in HP Ink-Jets and derivatives. Chris Goward, who runs a fabulous consulting firm called WiderFunnel, recently interviewed Anthony Napolitano, who runs the HP service business regarding "Ink as a Service". See the short Facebook clip showing Anthony and the idea: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=303711624104243
I did a most enjoyable workshop for VP Steve Nigro and about 100 HP execs in the printing world in 2013. Steve retired from HP in 2019. Many know of Steve's impressive resume:
Stephen Nigro is an industry veteran who has spent more than 37 years at HP working in a variety of capacities, most recently as President of 3D Printing, overseeing the global build out and execution of that business segment. Prior to that, Nigro was Senior Vice President of Imaging and Printing, leading all of HP’s printing businesses including HP Inkjet, HP LaserJet and HP Graphics.
Other senior leadership positions at HP that were held in the past by Nigro, included Senior Vice President of Inkjet and Graphics business, Senior Vice President of Retail and Web Solutions, Senior Vice President of Graphics and Imaging, and Senior Vice President of Technology Platforms.
Most notably, Nigro led the creation of the graphics arts business, 3D business and expansion of HP’s global inkjet business.
Nigro holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara.
Out of that workshop, the "Ink as a Service" idea gained strength, and Napolitano has led it since. I was invited to become a 'charter member' and we in fact did use it for awhile, but it was designed for the casual home-user (as in 15 pages per month), and we are prodigious users of HP printers and ink for reasons I'll spare you for now.
Then along came the Marketeers, and it became "FREE INK FOR A LIFETIME" (which, for our usage would have been welcome indeed--we spend ten times the our printers' cost for ink for them annually).
But today, comes this surprise announcement (granted, it is from Apple News, and hence suspect)" Read in Mashable: https://apple.news/AWfe5V5WMTRa3OEuTGlImyQ
It turns out HP's "free ink for life" plan wasn't actually "for life."
HP recently informed Instant Ink plan customers that after just three years, it was ending its "free ink for life" deal, according to Consumer Reports. It becomes not-so-free as of Friday.
What was this deal? The company remotely monitored printer buyers' ink usage (creepy!), and sent a "free" cartridge when they were running low...with some caveats.
Printing (and ink) was not unlimited. Users were allowed to print 15 pages per month. Subscribers also had to have a credit card on file with HP. If you went over 15 pages, HP would charge you a dollar for 10 additional pages.
Oh, another fun component of the plan: Every five pages, HP would PRINT AN AD on your printer. Don't worry, the ad wouldn't count against your quota. Phew!
But now those halcyon days are gone. HP will charge participants in the program 99 cents per month for their 15 pages. Sure, nearly $12 a year doesn't sound like a lot, but, again, they signed up for FREE ink for life.
There are tiers that cost between 99 cents to $24.99/month for more pages, based on your printing needs. One positive change to the plan is that you can roll over your unused pages up to a cap.
The bait-and-switch "free ink for life" deal is just the latest trick pulled by HP (and other printer companies) to make as much money as possible from their machines. Writer Cory Doctorow broke down how HP has milked its customers dry with “security chips” in ink cartridges that stop your printer from working if you try to use (cheaper) ink from a third party.
Printer makers face the same challenge as every other hardware company: How to get people to keep spending money once they've made the initial investment. The winning formula is subscriptions, which is why you see tiered pricing plans for everything from fitness classes on Peloton to cloud storage from Apple. So, of course, Big Printer is in on the action.
We've been tempted but never tried to use (cheaper) ink from a third party, so I don't know if my workhorse HP 8600 OfficeJet Pro (or my wife's either) have these reputed 'security chips' installed. I do know from bitter experience at several past companies that our HP printers have been far more reliable and dependable than those that places like Stanford have tried for cost reasons. But I bridle (or is it bristle) when someone asserts that the machine is set up to detect 'false ink' whether in fact it is or not. Shades of the Shell gas truck stopping to fill the reservoir at 7-Eleven, but your Shell card doesn't work.
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