Friday, April 10, 2015

I is for Ink Cartridges

R.a.n.t. for day 04/10/15
When I was a young writer starting out, I didn't have a computer like the ones available today. Computers were expensive and out of my Taco Bell salary price range, which is where I worked during my High School years. Most of my writing was done on a typewriter. (For you kids, a typewriter was a miraculous machine equipped with keys which when pressed printed whatever you typed automatically to a piece of paper. No need to save and print. And the typewriter never 'crashed' losing half a days typing because you were foolish and never saved. Hands up everyone that's happened to.) I didn't mind typing on a typewriter, I actually liked it. And when I got my first one I felt more like a writer than ever before. But the drawback is you can't go back and correct so easily. That's what's nice about typing on a computer. You type away for as long as you want, save the file, print it out, edit, print again, save once more, work on it again, etc. etc.

Working with the computer isn't so bad either, except when it gets to the printing part. It's a process that has begun to anger me greatly and thus resulted in not printing much of my writings lately. If I were smrt I would print out each and every one of my r.a.n.t.s, make a few choice selections and possibly see if they are interesting or humorous enough for publication. But I'm dreaming again because I hate talking about ink cartridges and I'm wandering in my r.a.n.t. again. That's how much talking about ink angers me. Why can I go to the local Office store and pick up a fairly decent all-in-one printer for about $100 and yet when I need to pick up new ink for it, (which seems every other week), I'm shelling out $40 for various cartridges. Even when I try to print only in black, the other colours seem to drain. And can ink really be that expensive? I can only imagine what a gallon of ink would cost.

I've also come to believe ink cartridges are sort of a legal scam. Did you know when most ink cartridges are 'out of ink' they are only partially out of ink? I've come to learn that the printer and ink cartridge are so smrt now, they conspire against you. Whatever printer you have, you can look online for cheats on how to extend the life of your ink cartridge. Most printers have a sensor that scans the ink cartridge for when it is 'low' and flags that it is empty. And then the printer refuses to print. A little trick I learned is to cover the sensor with black electrical tape and suddenly the printer sees it as a full cartridge and I extend the life by almost half. So when the printer says you are low or out of ink, it's lying, it's trying to scam you. And this is one scam artists I can't mess with.

Some questions for discussion:
Have you ever lost a portion of a story or article because you forgot to save?
How is your friendship with ink cartridges?
Did you notice I spelled the word smart wrong both times? That was planned.

Some other related articles:
I learn how to get free gas HERE
I correspond with and mess with an actual scammer HERE

12 comments:

  1. I hate having to buy ink. I haven't used color ink in ages though. After I got my printer and the color ink ran out, I left the cartridge in there and only replace the black. It's a good thing manuscripts aren't rainbow colored. ;) My print will keep printing even after I'm told the ink is low. Even after there's no ink, it'll still try to print. haha

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  2. Smart trick to fool the printer. I ignore the warning until absolutely nothing prints anymore. And you're right, those buggers are expensive.

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    1. I must have the only printer that refuses to print when it is "low".

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  3. I aways groan LOUDLY when the ink in the printer is empty. And it always seems to happen when I'm in a rush to get something printed. I grew up with an old fashioned typewriter too, and I remember how I hard it was to use the carbon sheets, plus the little strip of white correction paper to fix a typo. Glad I don't have to mess with that stuff anymore…..

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    1. Yes, I remember using correction fluid too. Hated that stuff. I borrowed an electric typewriter from a friend for a while and I was in heaven. Press of a key and it would white out your mistake. I hated having to give it back. But then I started going to the library and using the ones they had there. Eventually they had Apple Computers (Apple IIE) and dot matrix printers.

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  4. I have a brand new wifi wireless one I have yet to get to read the ink correctly. Agh

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  5. This is one of our pet peeves in this house. My husband has gone on tangents about the printer / ink conspiracy! LOL

    And I remember you typing away in your room while I was visiting your sister - always intrigued that someone could have so much to write about. I tried writing a little bit, but I'm just no good...... so I leave it to you! Have always enjoyed reading your stories, r.a.n.t.s., etc. Keep it up!

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  6. Hello there.
    Earlier today, I was just having a go at my printer! I only changed the cartridge about two weeks ago. I only use quick print and I've already got the message on screen telling me I need to replace the cartridge! I'll keep printing until the print starts to miss a few lines, then I'll surrender and buy a replacement. I think they dry out in the package or are not completely full when we get them home. Either way, they're way too expensive for how long they last (or don't last in my case). I might have to use your tip about the tape.

    Entrepreneurial Goddess

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    1. It seems like toner is a legalized scam. I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

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