Rant: Why fixing printers is shit

[Andrew Robinson]

If it's any help, I have a spare Epson Stylus DX4850 here (we used my
girlfriend's all in one printer/scanner/copier instead of that one because
the ink costs for the Epson are insane), so I might be able to donate parts
if you get into a situation where smashing your way into that one reveals
how you could have got in without ruining it.

- Andy_R

On 1 March 2010 11:23, Dave S <sly at mu-sly.co.uk> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Time for a rant!
>
> I haven't posted any rants here for a looong time, but I really need
> to get this one off my chest, and I hoped some within the 'bar might
> understand where I'm coming from.
>
> A friend of mine has an Epson Stylus DX4850 printer / scanner /
> all-in-one. It does just about everything, and costs about £85 new.
>
> When changing the cartridge, she accidentally left one of the small
> plastic tabs on which you are meant to peel off before inserting the
> new cartridge.  She loaded the new ink and the printer did it's thing,
> but the little tab of plastic film got ripped off somehow, and has
> jammed up the works.
>
> Now, you'd think it might be a simple task to extract a small piece of
> plastic film from within the workings of a printer, but no.
>
> She asked me to take a look, and I said I would.
>
> It took me over two hours to even find a way into this thing - there
> are no screws on the outside which you can use to undo any major
> panels.
>
> So I took to the web, and searched for service manuals.
>
> But of course, they aren't available from the manufacturers website.
> They aren't even leaked on Bittorrent or Rapidshare as far as I can
> find. Some tight bastards are selling them (yes, selling someone
> else's copyrighted work) from a few websites for about $10-12 USD, but
> this being a favour I'm doing for a friend, my budget is basically
> zero.
>
> I don't want to shell out on one of these service manuals (which
> should be free anyway) for something I may not be able to fix anyway,
> for a job I'm trying to do as a favour for a friend.
>
> So, eventually, I managed to find a service manual on Rapidshare for a
> similar enough printer model (Epson CX3100-3200) that I can find a way
> in to the printer.
>
> At this point, it has already taken me about three or four hours -
> just to remove the first proper piece of outer panel.
>
> I managed to undo one more screw inside, but that's only a cable grip,
> and nothing else seems to be coming away.
>
> So I'm forced to admit defeat - I just can't open this f*$king thing
> up, which is a first for me (although to be honest, I haven't tried
> fixing much in the way of electronics goods in the last decade).
>
> I guess manufacturers just got to the point where they automatically
> assume that most end users are such inept passive consumers that
> nobody would want to even bother trying to fix a device themselves.
>
> Is that really the way it is these days?
>
> Tepis only knows how many resources it takes to make one of these
> printers, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the average amount
> of oil (and that's just one resource) consumed to make electronic
> goods is about ten times the final weight of the item.  So this 7kg
> printer has perhaps used 70kg or so of resources in it's manufacture -
> meanwhile, I myself weigh 62kg.
>
> We have found somewhere that would service the printer, but it's
> undoubtedly going to cost at least £50 or more.
>
> More than half the retail price of a newer model?  That's a write off
> as far as many people are concerned (my friend included).
>
> So for the sake of a silly mistake, a stupid little piece of plastic
> film, a lack of a few exterior screws, a lack of free service manuals,
> and some guy trying to make $10, I am unable to fix my friend's
> printer, and thus she's off to buy a new one.
>
> Meanwhile, this high-tech commodity - which contains about a million
> times more processing power than landed humans on the moon - is
> perhaps off to landfill (if my friend is irresponsible) or at best (if
> I get my way) will end up on Freecycle, where someone else will
> probably waste five hours trying to fix the unfixable.
>
> (Maybe they'll shell out for the service manual, as $10 is definitely
> economically viable if you get a free printer and scanner in the
> bargain.)
>
> But for me, the moneyless amateur, who is pretty good with a
> screwdriver and has taken loads of electronic items apart in his time,
> who just wants to do a friend a favour... this is just about the end
> of the line.
>
> I can't believe I can't fix a printer, and that this scenario has
> undoubtedly happened tens / hundreds of thousands (more?) of times
> already.
>
> I really feel a great deal of sadness when I contemplate the mountains
> and mountains of electronic crap lying around in landfill sites,
> simply because it's cheaper (and more profitable) for the
> manufacturers to make things unfixable.
>
> It doesn't even matter if you boycott the one company, and buy your
> replacement printer from a different one.  Someone else is probably
> doing the exact reverse on the very same day!!!
>
> So it's win-win-win for the lazy manufacturers, and lose-lose-lose for
> the planet and for the human nature to use your skills to help your
> neighbour.
>
> Is it any wonder people lose the plot and go out of their minds!?
> (I'm pretty fucking close to that sometimes!)
>
> But hey, that's a win-win-win for the pharmaceutical companies who
> sell anti-depressants, isn't it!
>
> Sometimes, I really have to remind myself that the world isn't quite
> as shitty as it can often seem.  Because a great many societal
> structures can indeed give "the entire world" a seemingly impenetrable
> veneer of extreme shittyness.
>
> Lesson learned: I can't volunteer to help fix my friend's printer -
> not because I can't fix things like that, but because the item in
> question has been designed to make it impossible.
>
> This is one of the many, many reasons why I basically no longer buy
> any electronic gadgets (including computers and synths), and on the
> very rare occasions when I do, I always buy second hand.  My G.A.S.
> has been cured once and for all!
>
> Anyone care to join me there, in the land of former electronics and
> gadget-o-philes who now no longer partake in the insanity of
> consumerism?
>
> Cheers,
>
> ~Dave
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