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HP wants you to pay up to $36/month to rent a printer that it monitors
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024
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Technology
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HP printers these days requires internet connection linked to your HP account to even work. Same principle as live service online video games.
Yeah, but if my printer is pretty much a computer that can have its OS/Applications updated, I'm surprised that hackers haven't found a way to install software to make a printer be a printer instead of a "live service device".
It's not software issue, it's hardware issue. They use a physical "security" chip that performs authentication.
Latest example of it: HP outrages printer users with firmware update suddenly bricking third-party ink
A chunk of the article makes it sound like, in some cases, it was just a software change that bricked the ink cart.
Firmware, not software. It's a layer in between software and hardware. You are probably familiar with a most commonly known firmware terms used in PCs, called BIOS or UEFI.
Yeah... and some are flashable and some are not... which is why I was offered my "ponder" as comment.