Aardvark Daily aardvark (ard'-vark) a controversial animal with a long probing nose used for sniffing out the facts and stimulating thought and discussion.

NZ's leading source of Net-Industry news and commentary since 1995
Headlines | XML feed | Contact | New Sites | Archives | Job Centre | MARKETPLACE | For Sale
Note: This column represents the opinions of the writer and as such, is not purported as fact
Lighten Up 19 July 2002 Edition
Previous Edition | Archives

Please support the sponsor
Sponsor's Message
Time for more mirth, mayhem and madness from the wonderful world of the Internet.

Dave Barry is a writer for the Miami Herald and sometimes his columns are very funny and relevant. Here's what he has to say about spam.

Here's a little something to add interest to the smallest room in the house. Sure beats reading 6-month old copies of the Woman's Weekly I guess.

It might be the middle of winter right now but why not take a moment to modify your mouse in anticipation of those long hot days of summer.

Feature: Promoting Your Website
Dont' forget to check out the series of hints on how to promote your website which will be regularly added to throughout the next few weeks.

New this week: The Importance Of Branding

A Licence To Print Money
No, this isn't another rant about monopolies, telcos or dominant software vendors -- it's about printers.

Several years ago I bought an Epson Stylus 600 inkjet printer and I was very happy with it. The quality of the printing was second to none, even when plain old paper was being used.

What did annoy me however, was the price of ink cartridges. Within a year of use, I'd probably spent two or three times the price of the printer just on ink.

This came as quite a shock after years of laser and dot-matrix printer use where the cost per page was very, very low.

At the time, this heavy ink cost was problem enough, but since I bought my printer, things have gotten far worse.

Readers Say
(updated hourly)
  • In some cases... - Philip
  • Printing at home... - Nik
  • Epson Stylus 600... - Ray
  • Ink and taxes... - PeterB
  • Printer Ink... - Nathan
  • Printer Ink... - Alan
  • Crayon based printing... - Conrad
  • Consumables... - George
  • ink cartridges... - Grant
  • Printing Costs... - Lindsay
  • Have Your Say

    Obviously the inkjet printer manufacturers have decided that there's no money in selling printers per se -- but there's a fortune to be made in selling ink.

    As a result of this mindset, we've seen the price of good quality inkjet printers fall through the floor, while at the same time the price of replacement ink cartridges has gone through the roof.

    Now some of the more "economy minded" computer users out there soon discovered that they could save a small fortune by refilling their old cartridges using third-party ink kits.

    This infuriated the printer manufacturers who saw these little squirts muscling in on what had become their major revenue generator -- so they got clever.

    First they tried using scare tactics. "The use of third party inks will invalidate your warranty and damage your printer" was one of the most common claims. Unfortunately, while most people stuck with the manufacturer's ink for the first 12 months while the printer was under warranty, many of them switched to cheaper refills after that.

    Not to be thwarted, some manufacturers decided to go hi-tech. To prevent you and I from refilling our old cartridges with new ink, these manufacturers have gone so far as to embed smart chips into those cartridges that effectively disable them once they're empty. Even if you refill them, the printer will still insist that they contain no ink.

    Of course the wisdom is that if you plan to do a lot of printing then you shouldn't be using an inkjet anyway. Laser printers are much cheaper (and often faster) to run if you're doing more than a few pages a week -- and those who print a lot often consider colour to be less important anyway.

    So inkjets are best for occasional use right?

    BZZZT... wrong answer.

    My good old Epson 600 worked just fine and dandy while it was burning an inky hole in my pocket and chewing through ink cartridges at an atrocious rate but as soon as I cut back my frequency of printing to perhaps once or twice a month it spewed.

    Here's the problem -- many ink jet printers don't like sitting idle. The ink in the printer head will eventually dry up and block the incredibly fine holes, which leads to really, really bad printing.

    In the case of the Epson, it will let you waste an entire set of ink cartridges trying to clear the blockage using its little cleaning routine -- but that won't help one bit once your head is really blocked.

    Other printers such as many of the HP line are a little better insomuch as the print-head is built into the ink cartridge itself. This means you can simply toss out the cartridges and buy new ones ($$$). In the case of the Epson however -- you have little option but to throw the whole printer in the bin because the cost of repair is frequently more than the price of a new one.

    Before everyone emails me saying "have you tried this" with links to the numerous websites that offer hints and tips on clearing blocked print head nozzles" I should say -- yes, I've tried the whole range of options and my Epson's print head is still blocked.

    So what do YOU use for printing and how reliable, cheap and effective is it? Chances are that I'm not the only person experiencing the inkjet blues right now.

    Have Your Say
    As always, your comments are welcomed. Please remember to select "For Publication" if you want them included on this site.

    Have your say.

    Linking Policy
    Want to link to this site? Check out Aardvark's Linking Policy.

    Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it now!

    Latest
    Security Alerts
    PGP Outlook plugin has major hole (TheReg - 12/07/2002)

    IE scripting flaw uncovered (TheReg - 12/07/2002)

    Microsoft Reveals Still More Security Flaws (NewsFactor - 28/06/2002)

    OpenSSH Hole Uncovered
    (CNet - 28/05/2002)

    Apache Web Servers at Risk - Patching Urged (NewsFactor - 23/06/2002)

    Latest
    Virus Alerts
    Kowbot worm targets Kazaa network
    (VNuNet - 01/07/2002)

    Worm exploits Apache vulnerability (Computerworld - 01/07/2002)

    Soccer World Cup Virus Detected (iNetNews - 07/06/2002)

    Bookmark This Page Now!

     

    MORE NEWS
    NZL Sites
    IDG.Net.nz
    NZ Netguide
    NZ Herald Tech
    PC World NZ
    Scoop
    NZOOM Technology WordWorx

    AUS Sites
    ZDNet
    Fairfax IT
    Australian IT
    AUS Netguide
    NineMSN Tech
    APC Magazine

    USA Sites
    Wired.com
    CNet
    CNNfn Tech
    TechWeb
    Yahoo Tech
    ZDNet Tech
    USA Today Tech
    7am.com SciTech

    UK Sites
    The Register
    BBC SciTech

     

    My Jet Engines
    Check Out Me And My Jet Engines

    The Day's Top News
    Open in New Window = open in new window
    New Zealand

    Open in New Window Auck Uni early with .Net course
    Auckland University students studying for a new Bachelor of Business and Information degree are among the first in the world to get a course on Microsoft's .Net technology...
    IDG

    Open in New Window Radionet brand to remain after purchase
    new owner of wireless internet provider Radionet, plans to use the Radionet brand name to define its high speed wireless network service...
    IDG

    Other

    Open in New Window Shutting Microsoft Out of the Wireless World
    Because wireless still is a young industry, there is plenty of uncertainty over which companies eventually will dominate the space...
    NewsFactor

    Open in New Window Tech activists protest anti-copying
    Enthusiasts of free software disrupted a Commerce Department meeting Wednesday, insisting on their right to debate the entertainment industry over anti-copying technologies...
    CNet

    Open in New Window Will Alternative Web Browsers Ever Unseat Microsoft?
    Some analysts scoff at the very idea of alternative Web browsers -- any alternative, that is, to the dominant Microsoft Internet Explorer...
    NewsFactor

    Open in New Window 'Dotcom millionaire' pulls out of porn
    Benjamin Cohen - one-time teenage "dotcom millionaire" - is pulling out of the porn business...
    The Register

    Open in New Window India's Cell-Phone Fight Heats Up
    India’s telecom companies fight for turf as the difference between mobile and fixed-line services gets blurred. The courts will soon decide the winner...
    Wired

    Australia

    Open in New Window Telstra ADSL gets users down
    The patience of Telstra ADSL customers is being tested today, with technical difficulties hampering the service in multiple Australian states...
    ZDNet

    Open in New Window AFL stars angry at gay website
    AFL players angry about indecently retouched pictures of them appearing on a website for gay football fans have been told there is little Australian law can do to protect them...
    Australian IT

    Other

    Open in New Window JPEGs are not free: Patent holder pursues IP grab
    A video conferencing company based in Austin, Texas says it's going to pursue royalties on the transmission of JPEG images...
    The Register

    Open in New Window Record labels chase Chinese pirates
    International record labels have demanded that three Chinese-language Web portals halt fledgling music-related services because of alleged copyright infringements of mostly Mandarin and Cantonese pop hits...
    ZDNet

    Open in New Window Net becomes British way of life
    The internet has become a part of everyday life in the UK, with 19 million Britons now online, says a report...
    BBC

    Open in New Window Microsoft unbundles directory technology
    Microsoft will begin selling its directory technology as a standalone product separate from the Windows operating system...
    CNet

    Open in New Window Internet monopoly alert!
    VeriSign is attempting to push through a proposal which will effectively see one company control .com and .net Internet domain names, despite huge opposition from everyone else in the market...
    The Register


    Looking For More News or Information?

    Google
    Search WWW Search Aardvark

    Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2002, Bruce Simpson, republication rights available on request

    jet engine page