... which is exactly "Razor and blades model", not sure whats your problem with this apt comparison.
People would like to buy as cheap as possible. That's unfortunately incompatible with printers business model (marketing + cheap initial printer + necessary sales later to bring in the actual profits). As you mention they would go bankrupt soon if this is disrupted, and end users won't win long term in such scenario.
So I don't really get the issue, its so hard to grok that you pay for continuous package? Why would companies building ecosystem let anybody who bankrupts them in? Apple also fights tooth and nail to keep their app store one and only monopoly. Or go elsewhere, ie I have Brother printer, not stellar but good enough, official cartridge costs 1/2 to 1/3 of cost of whole new printer. Seems very reasonable to me and I am happy to pay those 50 bucks once every year or two.
I also buy official batteries when replacing in say phone, absolutely 0 point testing stuff thats marginally cheaper and of famous 'chinese quality'. I am old enough and rich enough to understand that I am definitely not rich enough to buy cheap junk just and exactly because its cheap.
> As you mention they would go bankrupt soon if this is disrupted
Or they'd adjust and charge the real price for the printer? We won't end up in a world with literally 0 printer manufacturers. People still need printers.
A laser printer is objectively a better printer for most people, they're slightly more expensive up front but substantially less expensive in the long run while being better at printing the things people actually print.
Most people buy printers the way Americans buy cars, concerning themselves more with having the ability to do things they think they might do rather than focusing on being a good fit for what they actually do, and as a result ending up with something that is objectively worse at what it's used for most of the time.
A cheap inkjet is just a bad printer, it's not good enough at photos to be useful to someone who primarily prints those and no inkjet has ever been good at printing documents without even getting in to the inevitable consumable waste inherent to using them that way. I won't shed a tear if they disappear off the market. Make greyscale lasers the standard entry level printer.
Does the general public still print documents more than once or twice a year? More and more things are all digital these days, but color is still useful for crafting and decorations.
> Why would companies building ecosystem let anybody who bankrupts them in? Apple also fights tooth and nail to keep their app store one and only monopoly?
Well sure, they will do what is in their power, but their power should be limited. Why is it acceptable that these types of firms can manipulate the government to sustain their monopolies? You wouldn't accept them burning down the factories of their rivals. The kind of lawfare they engage in isn't excusable either.
The printer manufacturers' business models are tailored to the artificial regulatory environment they helped create, where it's illegal to modify hardware you purchased and own, and illegal to advertise products that are compatible with a competitor's product. (or you'd be saddling yourself with 6 figures of court costs, which may as well be the same thing)
Imagine if your power company lobbied to make it illegal to send electricity through third-party cables, and then gave away power for pennies (because "people would like to buy as cheap as possible"), but sold 3-foot extension cords for $139 each (because of "safety", "hackers", whatever). Would you be ok with your power company going through these contortions to support a pricing model not tied to reality?
One overlooked aspect of this approach is how wasteful it is on purpose, people often buy a new printer (that comes with half-filled cartridges) and dispose the old one because it is cheaper than buying the cartridges which probably are not even empty.
People would like to buy as cheap as possible. That's unfortunately incompatible with printers business model (marketing + cheap initial printer + necessary sales later to bring in the actual profits). As you mention they would go bankrupt soon if this is disrupted, and end users won't win long term in such scenario.
So I don't really get the issue, its so hard to grok that you pay for continuous package? Why would companies building ecosystem let anybody who bankrupts them in? Apple also fights tooth and nail to keep their app store one and only monopoly. Or go elsewhere, ie I have Brother printer, not stellar but good enough, official cartridge costs 1/2 to 1/3 of cost of whole new printer. Seems very reasonable to me and I am happy to pay those 50 bucks once every year or two.
I also buy official batteries when replacing in say phone, absolutely 0 point testing stuff thats marginally cheaper and of famous 'chinese quality'. I am old enough and rich enough to understand that I am definitely not rich enough to buy cheap junk just and exactly because its cheap.