When did it become acceptable to sell printers without the cable to connect them to your computer? I’m not only talking about those crazy-cheap practically-disposable ink-jets either. I’m talking about $400 color-laser printers with no cable. Isn’t that like selling a toaster without a power-cable?
This also seems oddly counter to the “batteries ARE included” movement I’ve noticed in other electronics devices. Just about every battery-using device I’ve bought in the last few years came with batteries (even if they are the cheap kind, it’s fine for something like a remote). Maybe they got tired of ruining Christmas.
Comments
PatrickQG - September 6, 2006 1:34 am
I've never had a printer come with a computer connecting cable - that's right through from the first dot matrix I had in the early 90s through the inkjets & lasers I've owned, through the numerous printers I unboxed while working at my last job.
The most obvious point against including a cable is most printers now offer multiple connectivity options (usb, ethernet, etc.), it seems silly for them to waste money on a cable that a certain percentage will never use.
Now, when it comes to (say) the cheap printer I was given with a MacBook purchase earlier in the year, that only have USB, the lack of a cable is just being cheap.
Moises Kirsch - September 6, 2006 2:24 am
The reason for not including a cable is pure business... but not from the manufacturers (a.k.a. HP, Epson, Xerox, Canon, etc.).
It is very simple. If a retailer sells a $400 dls printer they make around 5%-8% from the sale... thats $16 to $32 dls.
If they sell you the cable for $10 bucks they probably buy it for $2... thats another $8 dollars of profit which equals to 50% more revenue.
To the printer manufacturers the cables cost just a few cents (believe me... I used to work for one of them). If they start to include it they will preffer to give shell space to those companies that don't included it and that way they sell more of those products plus the cables.
Thats why they don't include it... it's just business.
Christoph Wilhelms - September 6, 2006 7:01 am
Thas why I bought a 310? HP color laser printer with NETWORK ADAPTOR! I always have some spare patch cable :-).
Raquel - January 28, 2010 10:15 pm
I know this post is eternally old, but I just bought a $125 printer through the mail, only to discover that there was no cable in the box. Thinking it was a mistake, I wrote to Staples (where I bought it) and they shot me back an e-mail with a link to cable that I can buy for $19.99. Uh, gee, thanks, I was hoping for a 20% increase in the price I already paid and Staples came to save the day. I think I'll just try to make it work telepathically.