DocAndersen
First of all, I understand that I am an outlier when it comes to technology. But I wonder today if people still have printers at home. I’ve asked before about how many printers people have and types of printers. There are dedicated photo printers. Large format printers, color printers that use inkjet technology. All-in-one printers that include faxing and scanner. Color laser printers and heavy duty printers. All of these are devices that most of us have at one time or another used, seen or heard about. But I wonder now, if, like the landline, the days of home printers may be passed. Or instead has the printer evolved to the point where people aren’t going to have as many at home?
One of the coolest 3d printers you can get is the Snapmaker. Why? Because it is a 3 in one printer. It will do 3d prints, laser cutting, and laser engraving. I suspect that multi-function 3d printers will, like the all-in-one printers take over. The quality of an inkjet printout of a picture is OK. Yes, the dedicated dye-sub printers do a better job than the inkjet. A Color laser printer does a better job than the inkjet. But the reality of pictures is we only print certain ones. Based on that reality good-enough (inkjet) is good enough for most of us. Few people in the world of today need different types of printers. Some of us have them and use them because of jobs and functions.
All of this leading to what I consider the future of printers or driving to print a picture of grandma.
- Inkjet will be the predominant printer (as it has been for the past ten years) for the near term
- Lasers and All-in-one laser printers will continue to be a niche player
- Large format printers will slowly move to something Staples, FedEx, etc. offer as a service
- Photo printers will remain a Niche Market
- 3d printers will remain a Niche market
The reality of the printer market is that it will remain for the near term. What I suspect will happen is as we moved towards the information age, we won’t print as much. Based on less printing, fewer homes will have biners.
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Question of
Do you have a printer at home today?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you have a laser printer at home?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you have an inkjet printer at home?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you have a 3d printer at home?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you have a dedicated photo printer?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you have a large format printer at home (able to print 11 by 14 paper or more)?
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Yes
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No
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Users voted 7 times.
Q: DO YOU HAVE A PRINTER AT HOME TODAY?
Yes (6 votes) – 75%
No (2 votes) – 25%
Q: DO YOU HAVE A LASER PRINTER AT HOME?
No (5 votes) – 100%
Q: DO YOU HAVE AN INKJET PRINTER AT HOME?
Yes (4 votes) – 50%
No (4 votes) – 50%
Q: DO YOU HAVE A 3D PRINTER AT HOME?
No (7 votes) – 100%
Q: DO YOU HAVE A DEDICATED PHOTO PRINTER?
Yes (3 votes) – 38%
No (5 votes) – 63%
Q: DO YOU HAVE A LARGE FORMAT PRINTER AT HOME (ABLE TO PRINT 11 BY 14 PAPER OR MORE)?
Yes (1 votes) – 14%
No (6 votes) – 86%
We might go for 3D printer soon, I believe. And, a smart Printer which can clean, manage the ink level and refill ink by itself? 😛
The self-cleaning is something needed in the inkjet world. The artificial expiration dates they include in that world would make me nervous if the printer could order its own refills. I suspect the cost of ink would become 2 or 3 times more than it is now, if your printer could say time for new ink!
We have one that was like a gift to buy a laptop. But we do not need it, and we’re still stuck in our box. If necessary, upload the stick and print in the library for 10 cents per sheet.
It is awesome that libraries offer that as a service. I am beginning to think I may be a printing outlier!
My gf and I are both artists, so our print needs are outside the norm. I’ll skew your results…
I skew the results as well. There are always outliers!
which is why there are so many different ways to average
Obviously, this is a very informal poll ( I did one as well on MyLot). The interesting reality is more people still have printers than I would have expected.
More people than I expected bought an all-in-one printer and now, use it as a scanner only.
most non artists don’t need a dedicated scanner, nor does it need to be particularly high quality
Well now you and I would have to disagree on that one, Alex. If you do a family history project and scan slides and pictures, you can’t use the printer/scanner/all-in-one device.
We tried. Quality matters when it is a legacy!
hence my use of most. archiving and a few other tasks would mandate a higher grade scanner
Great subject for a post, thought-provoking. I don’t have a printer at home – I have the bare minimum of appliances really, one reason being that I live in a very small apartment, and there is very little room, so I keep it as uncluttered as possible. I only have a laptop computer, no desktop, and when I need to print something (which isn’t that often) I just get it done at the local library, which is cheaper than using a print-shop, for example.
I saw that many libraries did that as a service. very cool! thanks Maggie!
Yes DocAndersen all of the libraries here in the UK offer that service, besides scanning and other computing services. I love libraries!
That is really a great service. My wife tells me our library in Maryland does the same thing. Then she laughed and said “oh yeah you don’t go to the library.”
I have a Canon printer and scanner. I use it less for printing and mostly for scanning. I have lots of photo albums and I love to scan old photos and look at them on the PC and then also have them for use to show others.
I ended up getting a stand-alone scanner for the family history project. But it is an interesting situation (scanning versus printing)
I’m also waiting for confirmation from Thursday.
I have an HP inkjet printer. I do not use it much.
Did you ask me a question I missed on Thursday? If so my apologies.
Printing has evolved to be less critical lately.
I apologize for my misunderstanding and negligence. ? I wanted to answer another member that I am waiting for the post authorization since Thursday (1 week)
I understand. There are better places to ask those questions. Please feel free to reach out to me or others via the private message forum. If we can help we will!
I’m also waiting for confirmation from Thursday.
We’re together in that. What you have to do is go down every published article and post as I did, so everyone knows what is happening.
Does everyone know what is happening?
Since the rules happen to be very well known, what is the issue here?
First, you are kind of doing a not nice thing here hijacking comments on a post that has nothing to do with the direction of your comments.
Secondly, the rule is very simple. Verified users (those who have shown that they follow the community rules etcetera) are allowed to publish at choice. The editors determine who is a verified user based on the posting and overall community rules.
I waited just like you are now when I started on Virily.
There are forums where you can post issues getting your content approved on Virily just so you know.
Sorry to hear that. They sometimes get a lot of new submissions. Hopefully they will start publishing them again soon!
You do understand that they are doing the best they can right? The number of new writer son the site has increased and they have to review a lot of posts.
Also, you kind of hijacked this thread.
My family and I rarely print things so I only have one HP inkjet printer which is also very rarely used.
We don’t have an inkjet printer anymore because the only printers we have, one is a heavy duty (my wife prints a lot) and the other is one I got for everyone else to use.
That means your family’s need for a printer is indeed very high, Doc.
Two college students print their papers 🙂 My wife’s job actually requires leaving printed sheets for patients often, so she prints 200- or more sheets per week.
I clearly saw that need of your family. I remember when my two daughters were at college a few years ago, their needs were indeed high. While my wife, who is my work partner, always gave such matters to me or our men.
My wife burns through 500 sheets of paper or more a month. She is on her fourth printer in the last five years~
She has very big needs. Well, how else?
I suspect her job, given that she works with the US Federal Government, helping people, is more printer intensive because of the amount of paperwork she produces every day!
I understand that as the reason you understand and support her.
You are right DocAndersen. I see lesser need for printing anything.
I wonder if eventually it will only be speciality printers.