HP has discontinued its e-series LaserJet printers following widespread consumer dissatisfaction with the printers’ mandatory online connection of the HP+ scheme.
The decision, reported by German media outlet §, addresses growing frustration among users who have been forced to maintain a constant internet connection and use HP original ink and toner, with cheaper and more accessible third-party alternatives prohibited.
The LaserJet e-series models, identifiable by an ‘e’ suffix in their models names, now look to have been pulled from sale.
So rather than just push a super simple firmware update that disables the always online need, they’d rather just stop selling it, and probably brick these printers in a year or so when they discontinue the service.
Has hp ever done anything to suggest they give a shit about users beyond milking them for all they’re worth?
Maybe a dumb take, but I think milking customers for all they’re worth is much better option than what HP is seemingly doing — which is milking them for all they’re worth this quarter.
Like, there are companies with a cult like following (Valve comes to mind) and while they could probably increase profit for a quarter or two, they seem to be playing the long game fairly well. Which is ultimately better for everyone — they get more money over your lifetime, and you get a product that you’re happy with.
They did provide good first party Linux support where other printer required the use of hacky reverse engineered drivers. Other than that…
https://support.brother.com/g/b/faqend.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=dcpl2550dw_us&faqid=faq00100556_000
Both Brother and Samsung drivers are fine IMO, haven’t had any problems for 10 years at least with printer drivers on Linux.
And I stopped using HP already in the 90’s.