The Worst Timeline: A Printer Company Is Putting DRM in Paper Now

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/worst-timeline-printer-company-putting-drm-paper-now

by pabs3 • 4 years ago

56 7 4 years ago

Alright, so I know some of you Arduino/Rasp Pi experts are out there. I suck at hardware dev of any sort.

If making open source 3D printers is pretty common right now, why not this? Some of these Dymo printers are $200-$300 bucks. How ridiculous would it be to create an open standard and plans to let folks make 3d printed build kits and use the power of open markets to drive this bullshit into the ground? I think that discussion is far more productive than crying about this.

vurpo• 4 years ago

As unintuitive as it may seem, 3D printers are actually way simpler to DIY than 2D paper printers. An almost modern 3D printer could have been put together by a hacker in their basement in the 90s. The only reasons they didn't trend until the 2010s is that patents prevented them from being commercially possible until the 2010s, and then it's taken hobbyists many years to gather the knowledge about what to do and not to do. The mechanical construction is not complicated, and the necessary components and materials have been around and readily available for decades.

2D paper printers, on the other hand, are way more complicated and require specialized components that make it very unlikely for anyone to be able to DIY a working laser or ink jet printer. If you want a "free" paper printer, then a much more viable alternative is to hack a "closed" printer to work as you want. With 3D printers, if you want a "free" printer the most viable alternative is actually the opposite: you can just build one yourself since the construction is so simple.

kumarvvr2• 4 years ago

I have long awaited for the open source community to develop the core technology behind laser printing. I can build other parts of a printer, but the core laser drum and ink transfer capability is beyond my capabilities.

I really wish there was an open source laser printer.

rahimnathwani• 4 years ago

The article is about thermal printers, not laser printers.

kumarvvr2• 4 years ago

I was alluding to the need of printing, as a concept, not necessarily the type of printer.

Also, developing an open source laser printer is easier than an ink-jet one.

pabs3• 4 years ago

Probably starting with open source firmware for an existing printer would be easier than starting with the hardware?

dusted• 4 years ago

at least killing it with fire should be straightforward...*

* not legal advice(tm)

The Worst Timeline: A Printer Company Is Putting DRM in Paper Now

Related Stories