Author Topic: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.  (Read 1575956 times)

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13075 on: 04 April, 2021, 11:20:31 pm »
Gouging doesn't benefit HP in the long run either because people do (eventually) work out that HP printers are an out and out rip off and buy from other people and HP go to the wall.  TBH I'm surprised that HP didn't go to the wall about 10 or 15 years ago.

It's amusing to note that at least 3 people here using *old* HP printers because they were built well and and don't have all the walled garden / lock the sucker in crap, but no-one has chipped in to say that they'll buy a new HP printer.  John Deere (big green tractors) are also busy finding out the hard way that this lock-in model doesn't work.  In their case it's more a lock-in to their support network than DRM on parts, but there is an element of that as well.  Farmers in the US are still buying John Deere tractors, but they're buying old, sometimes decades old, JD tractors because they can fix them themselves and not lose a harvest because the nearest approved technician is a 2 hour flight away and won't be able fix the bloody thing when he gets to it.
Having spent much more (several times, I think) on cartridges over the years than my old HP LaserJet cost to buy, despite it only being B&W & having been able to buy knock-offs for much less than HP originals for most of that time, I'm keenly aware that the profits in printers are made on the ink or toner, not the printer.

I'd rather pay the real price for a printer (no cross-subsidy from ink/toner, but a decent profit margin) & the same markup on ink/toner as on printers. That'd be transparent, instead of real costs being hidden, & why should one set of customers be expected to subsidise others?

It'd free manufacturers from the problem of cheap ink or toner taking away their profits. No need to lock customers in if you can sell at close to the price of the knock-offs with the assurance that your ink is the real thing, with none of the potential risk of dodgy cheap ink clogging your nozzles, or whatever.
"A woman on a bicycle has all the world before her where to choose; she can go where she will, no man hindering." The Type-Writer Girl, 1897

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13076 on: 05 April, 2021, 12:54:50 am »
Gouging doesn't benefit HP in the long run either because people do (eventually) work out that HP printers are an out and out rip off and buy from other people and HP go to the wall.  TBH I'm surprised that HP didn't go to the wall about 10 or 15 years ago.

It's amusing to note that at least 3 people here using *old* HP printers because they were built well and and don't have all the walled garden / lock the sucker in crap, but no-one has chipped in to say that they'll buy a new HP printer.  John Deere (big green tractors) are also busy finding out the hard way that this lock-in model doesn't work.  In their case it's more a lock-in to their support network than DRM on parts, but there is an element of that as well.  Farmers in the US are still buying John Deere tractors, but they're buying old, sometimes decades old, JD tractors because they can fix them themselves and not lose a harvest because the nearest approved technician is a 2 hour flight away and won't be able fix the bloody thing when he gets to it.
Having spent much more (several times, I think) on cartridges over the years than my old HP LaserJet cost to buy, despite it only being B&W & having been able to buy knock-offs for much less than HP originals for most of that time, I'm keenly aware that the profits in printers are made on the ink or toner, not the printer.

I'd rather pay the real price for a printer (no cross-subsidy from ink/toner, but a decent profit margin) & the same markup on ink/toner as on printers. That'd be transparent, instead of real costs being hidden, & why should one set of customers be expected to subsidise others?

It'd free manufacturers from the problem of cheap ink or toner taking away their profits. No need to lock customers in if you can sell at close to the price of the knock-offs with the assurance that your ink is the real thing, with none of the potential risk of dodgy cheap ink clogging your nozzles, or whatever.

Wellsaid.

Old HP printers mainly work.
(At least I hope D's will work when we get a replacement EIO card for it.)

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13077 on: 05 April, 2021, 11:31:12 am »
I put some Nice Shoes on yesterday, for the first time in ages.    My feet have gone soft from a year of wearing sandals & the Nice Shoes chewed my right heel to a bloody mess.  :(
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

ian

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13078 on: 06 April, 2021, 10:51:56 am »
Gouging doesn't benefit HP in the long run either because people do (eventually) work out that HP printers are an out and out rip off and buy from other people and HP go to the wall.  TBH I'm surprised that HP didn't go to the wall about 10 or 15 years ago.

It's amusing to note that at least 3 people here using *old* HP printers because they were built well and and don't have all the walled garden / lock the sucker in crap, but no-one has chipped in to say that they'll buy a new HP printer.  John Deere (big green tractors) are also busy finding out the hard way that this lock-in model doesn't work.  In their case it's more a lock-in to their support network than DRM on parts, but there is an element of that as well.  Farmers in the US are still buying John Deere tractors, but they're buying old, sometimes decades old, JD tractors because they can fix them themselves and not lose a harvest because the nearest approved technician is a 2 hour flight away and won't be able fix the bloody thing when he gets to it.
Having spent much more (several times, I think) on cartridges over the years than my old HP LaserJet cost to buy, despite it only being B&W & having been able to buy knock-offs for much less than HP originals for most of that time, I'm keenly aware that the profits in printers are made on the ink or toner, not the printer.

I'd rather pay the real price for a printer (no cross-subsidy from ink/toner, but a decent profit margin) & the same markup on ink/toner as on printers. That'd be transparent, instead of real costs being hidden, & why should one set of customers be expected to subsidise others?

It'd free manufacturers from the problem of cheap ink or toner taking away their profits. No need to lock customers in if you can sell at close to the price of the knock-offs with the assurance that your ink is the real thing, with none of the potential risk of dodgy cheap ink clogging your nozzles, or whatever.

That's the problem though, while you and I may think like that, most of the market (probably) doesn't. They want a low hurdle price and will worry about the rest later.

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13079 on: 06 April, 2021, 01:17:52 pm »
I used to buy HP printers, but when it decided on a Sunday afternoon to stop printing because a page counter had been reached, I vowed never to buy any HP stuff again. Now I have a Brother laser printer, which works well. I would buy their consumables, but at 4x the price of independents I can’t justify the expense. I can reset the counters on the Brother if I need to...

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13080 on: 06 April, 2021, 03:56:33 pm »
I will cycle commute in any/all weather.  I have done the commute when I had to carry the bike half the way because of snow; I've cycled through tornadoes; I've cycled through wind that felled trees (and doubled my journey time).  So why am I totally incapacitated by the cold today?
simplicity, truth, equality, peace

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13081 on: 09 April, 2021, 01:09:32 pm »
Three adverts that are annoying me currently: Grammarly, Swytch and Hello Fresh. Also, why does the Hello Fresh woman have a not-quite-traceable Southern Hemisphere accent? Perhaps they think this lends the not-quite Deliveroo idea some exotic cachet? (I guess that's also where the roo in Deliveroo comes from).

Grammarly is probably the most annoying though.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13082 on: 09 April, 2021, 10:30:12 pm »
I forgot abut the Ebay adverts. They're like the old spoof ads from Viz but real: "Buy tabs! Buy beer! Buy shit! Buy crap! Buy stuff!"
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13083 on: 10 April, 2021, 07:08:16 pm »
So what are the benefits of the easing of lockdown?  One I didn’t expect was having to queueueueue to get into Mr Sainsbury’s House of Toothy Comestibles for the first time in about nine months.  Bah >:(
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13084 on: 10 April, 2021, 07:11:52 pm »
Our Sainsburys Local which has been invaluable during the last 13 months of covidity closed today.  Bloody annoying because it takes me quite a while to work out the layout of a shop and where the things that I usually buy can be found.   :-\

Feanor

  • It's mostly downhill from here.
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13085 on: 10 April, 2021, 08:08:40 pm »
My trusty HP Laserjet 4050 has a paper-jam that won't clear.

Opening all the usual flaps shows nothing out of order.
Going to require a deeper level of dismantlement.

So it was this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNW9TGrKF2k

A clutch that has seized up, requiring rather more cleaning up than shown on the video.
I pretty much cleaned 90% of the iron fillings out of it, and had to add a smear of lube on the o-rings to drop the friction to what I reckoned felt reasonable.
All working now.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13086 on: 10 April, 2021, 11:01:07 pm »
My trusty HP Laserjet 4050 has a paper-jam that won't clear.

Opening all the usual flaps shows nothing out of order.
Going to require a deeper level of dismantlement.

So it was this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNW9TGrKF2k

A clutch that has seized up, requiring rather more cleaning up than shown on the video.
I pretty much cleaned 90% of the iron fillings out of it, and had to add a smear of lube on the o-rings to drop the friction to what I reckoned felt reasonable.
All working now.

*files away in back of brain for future reference*

ian

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13087 on: 13 April, 2021, 02:35:58 pm »
God, do I wish I could order an airstrike on the fucking twatwagon that drives by once a day with the music so loud it vibrates my desk and sends Bad Cat scattering for cover. It's not like the house is next to the road. I can't imagine what it must be like inside the infernal wheeled sonic cage.

I did glance out as it passed earlier and it's the stereotypical blinged up silver thing with unnecessary spoilers and completely blacked-out windows. If I get the reg, I'm shopping him for the tints alone but mostly for annoying me with the thunderingly offensive twattishness of his sound system.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13088 on: 13 April, 2021, 09:54:52 pm »
I can't imagine what it must be like inside the infernal wheeled sonic cage.

Underwhelming.  The body of the car isn't big enough to get a proper standing wave going, AIUI

ian

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13089 on: 14 April, 2021, 03:31:37 pm »
I can't imagine what it must be like inside the infernal wheeled sonic cage.

Underwhelming.  The body of the car isn't big enough to get a proper standing wave going, AIUI

Quite possibly, it's a Corsa-ish thing. Seems to vibrate like an out-of-control mains-powered sex toy during a power surge. He (and I'm sure it is) was a bit quieter for today's visitation.

The house down the road is making up today's auditory nuisance by hammering out a Poe-ish rhythm. Seems they're building some ginormous shed or home office solely with the aid of hammers.

FifeingEejit

  • Not Small
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13090 on: 16 April, 2021, 01:36:15 pm »
HR continue their popularity drive by announcing thst public holidays are no longer allowed to be floated.

Could be interesting as we currently have 2 in the office as essential cover and last time we were asked if we wanted to float or fix public holidays the one team daft enough to want to fix got told that the minimum cover was 0.

Not so bad as England as it'll be Dundee holidays, but still a pain in the hoop.

Sent from my BKL-L09 using Tapatalk


Giraffe

  • I brake for Giraffes
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13091 on: 21 April, 2021, 03:49:11 pm »
About a week ago I printed off 2 copies of a bus timetable, after spending much time getting it all to fit on one sheet.
Today, noticed said buses weren't running to time and seemed to be more frequent. New timetable out, carefully arranged to be impossible to get on to fewer than 2 sheets and possibly needing 3.
What the hell is wrong with composing a neat, compact format that's easy to print? Well, there is one - only for use at bus stops, if ever put there.
2x4: thick plank; 4x4: 2 of 'em.

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13092 on: 23 April, 2021, 11:29:57 am »
A couple of weeks ago I bought myself a jumper on line. As it was the second ju,per id bought from this company I had no worries about the sizing. I’d didn’t fit! No worries, returns process is easy and the company concerned has a 4 week returns policy. But as the new jumper and the existing jumper where noticeably different in size in spite of being marked as the same sizes, and because I’m really happy with the one that does,fit, I thought I’d mail them and see if the new jumper was mislabelled. They were a bit slow in responding but when they did get back to me it was a nice email and they seemed keen to resolve the issue. They asked me to measure both jumpers and provided them with the numbers. This I’ve done. I’ve sent them an email which has been met with silence. Nothing. Zip. I would probably wait a bit longer, but Dr Beardy (Mrs) has a very low threshold for what she considers ‘faffing’ and is urging (nagging!) me to return the jumper for a refund. And that is probably winding my up more than the lack of response from the company.
Hey ho.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13093 on: 25 April, 2021, 12:34:14 am »
Copulating Seagull's on my roof.  Shut the f*** up , before I buy an air rifle. 
Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13094 on: 25 April, 2021, 03:07:41 pm »
Copulating Seagull's on my roof.  Shut the f*** up , before I buy an air rifle.

Sympathies! Roosting, cooing pigeons in the eaves, not far from D's head frequently woke him and nearly caused Domestic Strife.
Paid £Lots to get it sorted.

Pigeons are quieter than seagulls...

Regulator

  • That's Councillor Regulator to you...
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13095 on: 26 April, 2021, 02:36:46 pm »
Copulating Seagull's on my roof.  Shut the f*** up , before I buy an air rifle.

I should warn you that all gulls are protected species.  Only lesser black-backed gulls and herring gulls are subject general license provisions for control - and those are subject to quite strict requirements.
Quote from: clarion
I completely agree with Reg.

Green Party Councillor

Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13096 on: 26 April, 2021, 05:36:36 pm »
Copulating Seagull's on my roof.  Shut the f*** up , before I buy an air rifle.

I should warn you that all gulls are protected species.  Only lesser black-backed gulls and herring gulls are subject general license provisions for control - and those are subject to quite strict requirements.

Both black-backed gulls and herring gulls were removed from the general licence list last year. You would need a specific individual licence for them now.

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
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Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13097 on: 26 April, 2021, 05:41:47 pm »
It's freezing. I've had to put the heating on again. The decorators are coming later in the week so I'll need to have the windows open. And it's too wet for me to finish the exterior painting and too cold for me to paint inside the vestibule. FFS.
Bah!
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13098 on: 26 April, 2021, 05:49:21 pm »
The world is a horrid noisy place, and I don’t like it. Dr Beardy (Mrs) is laughing at me because I’m speaking so quietly.

I’ve just returned from the hearing aid clinic where they provided me with shiny new aids with new programmes to replace mine which have been broken for 12 months. Excellent service, but they needn’t have bothered for me >:(
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.
« Reply #13099 on: 26 April, 2021, 05:49:32 pm »
I should warn you that all gulls are protected species.  Only lesser black-backed gulls and herring gulls are subject general license provisions for control - and those are subject to quite strict requirements.

:o  Was that one of Dominic Cummings' previous jobs?