this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2025
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[–] [email protected] 138 points 5 days ago (6 children)

Framework printer.

Make it happen.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 5 days ago

dude I would pay gold for that

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Not saying they couldn't/shouldn't but printers are a nightmare hellscape and it's a miracle, mostly of HP's marketing department, that they're a household object.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 days ago

Back before everyone had maps on their phone, printing MapQuest maps was fantastic. This was the early 00's though and we all had money to burn still.

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[–] [email protected] 100 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Brother sucks now!?

Truly, this is the canary in the coal mine moment.

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[–] [email protected] 158 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Damn, Brother was the only company left I was happy to blind purchase from by name alone.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Brother's been anti-consumer for at least 5 years now. Not sure why people are just learning about it now.

Brother blocking 3rd party toner was the primary reason why I went with Canon back in 2020.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Probably because we all bought printers 10 years ago, or at least I did.

[–] [email protected] 65 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Sad to hear Louis is having family issues

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[–] [email protected] 113 points 5 days ago (20 children)

It's funny how far ahead 3d printers are in terms of consumer experience, everything is open, everything works and the tech is like 300 times more complex.

2D printer companies should be shamed to death.

[–] [email protected] 74 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Over time as 3D printers go from tinkerer's toy to household staple, I'd expect them to become more locked down and anti-consumer.

[–] [email protected] 73 points 5 days ago

Bambu is working on it already — can’t print unless you’re connected to the internet and send your files through their server, can’t connect to the printer with other slicers besides their slicer.

They had to walk that back some; there is now a “developer mode” where old standard functionality is still exposed, but they’re clearly working as hard as they can to turn it shitty.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 5 days ago (7 children)

This is mainly because consumer 3d printer have been developped by 3d printing enthusiast first and not a company, Prusa which was leader for some time used a lot of open sources project to build their printers. As it's getting mainstream as time goes by more and more companies shows up with closed sources project sadly.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

They're actually behind. 3D printers are a much newer industry. Most industries start out super open, competitive and collaborative. This speeds up development to consumer-grade products. Eventually one or two companies gain sufficient marketshare to start enforcing anti-consumer shitfuckery. Look at the recent drama with Bambu printers and you'll find that's exactly what's happening. It's a tale as old as time.

Framework actually trolled us into thinking they were going to release a printer but instead they went into a market segment where everything was already modular, repairable and upgradable and gave us something that was not, at all. But hey, they gotta capitalize on the AI nonsense too, I guess?

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 days ago (1 children)

2D printers used to be like this.
They all worked with open, universal drivers, no additional software, and any ink cartridge that fit inside the bay.
But then companies figured out that people will just buy the cheapest printer on offer, regardless of everything else.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Man I've had a brother printer so long because of their Linux support this is so annoying

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

good news is modern Linux has great support for printers

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[–] [email protected] 93 points 5 days ago (5 children)

Are there no good guys left?

[–] [email protected] 47 points 5 days ago

Ironic username, but no, there are none righteous

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 5 days ago (4 children)

I no longer have any corporate relationships that aren't either apprehensive, strained, or downright antagonistic.

It's us versus them now and they've give their last shits. It's feeling like every company is a cable company now.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Always has been like that.

Not one single corporation is your friend or wants to be. All they want is your money. No exceptions.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Companies were never our friends, but it used to be the case that companies sold products. They sold a product and you got to use it and that was the end of it.

Now instead, thanks largely to the Internet, companies barely care about 'product' at all and instead are all trying to get in on that gravy train of monetised data slurping, subscription models, DRM on every consumable, firmware updates that change the terms on you after the fact, and so on. Every electronic thing in your home is now super hostile to you.

TVs, printers, fridges. These products used to be just products, but now they are trojan horses.

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Do we really need to crowd fund a FOSS printer? Really?

[–] [email protected] 71 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (5 children)

You actually can’t sell third-party printers legally, because all printers will include an ink fingerprint which can be traced back to that specific printer. So if someone prints a ransom note or counterfeits cash with it, the FBI will be knocking on their door by the end of the day.

There’s literally a certification process to be allowed to sell printers, and one of the biggest criteria for that certification is agreeing to maintain that fingerprint database. One of the other big criteria is that the printer needs to be able to recognize and refuse to print images of cash, to prevent counterfeiting. If you try to print an image of a dollar bill, the printer’s firmware will refuse to continue the print job. The issue is that this certification process also ensures there’s a de facto near duopoly on printers, which leads to BS like HP making it increasingly difficult to use affordable ink. They can be blatantly anti-consumer, because they’re protected from any competition.

There’s a reason HP hasn’t already been priced out by some cheap Chinese competitor who is able to undercut the competition. And it’s not because of the difficulty in manufacturing or the price of components. It’s because no other companies are allowed to sell printers.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You make it sound like a huge conspiracy but there are laws and regulations around everything you try to sell, especially for electronics.

You also have to do EMF radiation testing, ensure that your printer doesn't produce toxic aerosols or fumes, and probably a bunch of other things to prove that your product is safe. I don't see why the fingerprinting isn't just another thing on the list of things you have to do to be in compliance with the rules. If your company is capable of producing something as complex as a printer, encoding the device' serial number into a bunch of yellow microdots that you add to the printout shouldn't be an issue.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Inside the US, sure. That just means you don't get the cool FOSS printer.

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[–] [email protected] 78 points 5 days ago (1 children)

...I remember Brother intnetionally making their stuff VERY user servicable.

Wha happen

[–] [email protected] 83 points 5 days ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 41 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Now i had to put on the in-ears, hook up to phone to.... listen to a guy talking. -_-

Short summary: after he got a firmware update, the MFC 3750 of Louis Rossman prints in worse quality with aftermarket ink.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I rarely use a printer now that my kids are in college. When it dies, I had a choice between laser printer, Brother inkjet, or none. “None” is now my first choice

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

We have a laser printer (Brother), and if it dies, I plan to just go to the local library.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 5 days ago (7 children)

That's what we did.

For the few pages we need to print, I can use the machine at the library for $0.10/page.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Capitalism is the breeding ground of parasitism. The incentive structures needs to change. Good corporate governance and long term sustainability need to trump short term turnover and fiduciary role to always go up. As it exists, corporate incentive structures promote leadership by psychopaths that will go to the utmost consequence to drive the last cent out of their customers. This is especially true in the US, which by virtue of competition, metastasises to the entire western world.

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 5 days ago

Okay, so after reading this, they're not specifically degrading print quality, they're just making you do the alignment manually. This is probably legal, but still scummy.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 days ago (4 children)

"Bröther, please dö nöt becöme anti-cönsümer!"

"I töö yearn för the cöntrölled mönöpöly, thë ensittificätiön, the röt ecönömy!"

"Brother..."

"I'm leäving töö müch möney on thë täblë! We also hävë öür men Ëlön Müsk as thë shädöw prësidënt, Trümp ïs jüst hïs, ör räthër - öür püppët. Hë wïll dïsmänlë äll cönsümër prötëctïons, as thëy're in thë wäy öf öür pröfits."

"Bröthër... Plëäsë rëcönsïdër!"

"Änd whät ärë yöü gönnä dö if not? Go tö thë cönsümer prötection agencies Ëlön Müsk's DÖGË jüst dïsmäntlëd? Üse an öld HP LaserJet until yöü cän get repläcemënt rollers för it? You know öther parts öf it cän brëäk töö."

"Bröther... You became... ËVÏL! You betrayed EVERYTHING you previously stood for!"

"And Ï wïll dö it as mäny tïmes as nëëded. Ëvil? It's jüst büsïnëss. Mäybë yöü shöüld hävë rëcönsïdërëd yöür vötë för Trümp."

"Bröther... Büt thë tränsës hävë cäncëlled Pikamëë för thë wïzärd gämë! The wökenëss häve been deströying the gäme ïndüstry! I nëëded tö vötë för Dönäld Trümp! Why isn't it wörkïng äs ït wäs süppösëd tö!"

"Yöü vötëd ägäïnst yöür cläss interest öut öf püre hatred. I like ït vërÿ müch! Yöü knöw önë rëäsön she wäs älsö cäncelled wäs düë tö lölï? Ï dön't think Pröjëct 2025 wïll ällöw it för sö löng düë tö tötäl pörn ban!"

"PLEÄSE BRÖTHËR, NÖT THE LÖLÏ! PLEÄSE LET ME KEEP THË CÜTË ÄND FÜNNŸ!"

"Yöü vöted against yöür class interest, yöür personal interest... hahahahahaHAAHAHAHAHAAAA! Yöür sö fünny! Ÿöü'rë thë përfëct vötër för më! Ÿöü'rë thë përfëct cönsümër ëvën! Töö dümb tö rëälïzë äll thë pöliticäl wörkings aröünd yöürself. Änd when anything göes wröng, yöü bläme the minörities öf this söciety. Nöw get exited för Bröther AI, a sübscriptiön service which is essentiäl för öperating the printer! Get ready för price hikes! Get ready för shörter lasting printers!"

"You're truly despicable bröther!"

[–] [email protected] 34 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

O, damnit. Not the last bastion of hope!

Edit: 100% serious. Like Rossmann, Brother was the go-to brand.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 days ago (2 children)

This kinda shit makes me glad I don't own a printer.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 days ago (8 children)

That gives a whole new twist to "you'll own nothing and be happy"

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