It is a well-established custom to read operation manuals only
as a last resort. However, those who read manuals and own an HP cp1160 printer
may have come across the following words, (in a statement on page 9 of the
Reference Guide, also elegantly titled in French as ‘Guide de Reference):
"…To install a refilled
HP cartridge……etc. etc.." note the italics.
Simple words, you may say.
Simple indeed but signaling a dramatic change in the world of Jet
Printer Cartridges. Why?
Ever since the arrival on the
market of the first Jet Printers, all manuals of all printers, of
all models, of all manufacturers carried warnings threatening
various disasters if a refilled cartridge was used. The easiest
threat was the voiding of the warranty. And yet as many know,
there are specific anti-monopoly laws preventing a manufacturer
from denying warranty if the customer uses supplies or spare parts
provided by another maker. Who knows how many hundreds of
thousands of users spent millions in new cartridges just because
of the aired menace to void the warranty.
The other threat was that using
someone else’s ink (or cartridge) would destroy the printer or
the printhead (the latter in case where the printhead is NOT
already part of the cartridge). Generalizations are grist for
anybody’s mill depending on what is left unsaid. Jet ink is a
very specialized emulsion and different printer manufacturers use
different emulsions and formulas. Therefore, it is true that
improper ink will damage or destroy the printhead but accurately
formulated inks won’t.
As for cartridges that contain
their own printhead, the cartridge IS essentially the printer. In
the worst conditions the cartridge would be destroyed but not the
printer. But again how many users would be so diligent as to
observe the makings of the cartridge and deduct that if the
printhead is part of the cartridge the threat is meaningless?
Bottom line? The manufacturers
speculated that most people would be scared of the threats.
Equally, users would remain sufficiently uninformed so as not to
discover that those statements were simply untrue. Plainly
speaking, the manufacturers lied or, as Shakespeare would say,
"they made such a sinner of their memory to credit their own
lies."
As you know, thrifty or
environmentally conscious customers discovered the truth a long
time ago - we ourselves at Computer Friends put out the first
Jet-Master Refill in 1990. And now, 12 years later, we have
finally the first indirect, but nevertheless official
acknowledgement that indeed you can refill your cartridges.
Let’s drop unseen in one of
the corporate rooms where the matter is discussed between, say,
Colin Marketer from Marketing and Dusty Fatbotham from Finance.
The dialogue probably went like this.
Colin Marketer. In the
business of refilled jet cartridges our credibility has sunk to
the bottom. All our manuals say that no one should refill his
cartridges or else, but even my nephew does it. The printer prints
just fine.
Dusty Fatbotham. We are
losing too many sales on the cartridges. Don’t you know that a
cartridge refilled is one less sale? A few million less sales and
I am afraid that my million dollar yearly bonus may be affected.
Colin Marketer. I dislike
it just as much as you do, Dusty, but let’s face it. By now
people know that we lie in our face when we say that cartridges
cannot be refilled. If we lie on something so clear and simple our
customers will think that we lie on other matters too. Remember
that business of "I never had any sex with that woman, Ms.
Lewinski"?. When he was found out he had to say that "It
depends on what you mean by sex." Imagine how credible the
guy became. Do we want to do the same?
Dusty Fatbotham. You have
a point, Marketer. But at least let’s not advertise it. Bury the
information in the middle of the book. Many users hate reading
manuals. There is a good chance that they may never come to the
bit about the refilled cartridges.
Colin Marketer. Good
point, Fatbotham. I will talk to the documentation people. And
there is something else. Knowing our competitors, they will
continue for a while to say that cartridges cannot be refilled. If
we prove them to be liars, users will be better predisposed
towards our products and us. You don’t need me to tell you that
a well-predisposed prospect is likely to become an actual
customer.
Dusty Fatbotham. OK let’s
go for it.
Of course all of the above is
conjectural, but sometimes tiny clues give away the plot. You may
remember Dr. Watson when he met with Sherlock Holmes for the first
time. Dr. Watson gave him a fine watch he had recently received
and asked if he, Holmes, could say anything about the watch’s
owner.
After a brief investigation
Holmes concluded that the watch belonged to Dr. Watson’s eldest
brother, that the brother was a careless man and of untidy habits.
He was left with good prospects, but he threw away his chances,
lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of
prosperity, and finally, taking to drink, he died.
Dr. Watson replied offended
accusing Holmes to have made previous inquiries about Watson and
his family. Holmes calmly showed how he arrived at those
conclusions. Previous ownership of the watch was deducted from the
initials H.W. where the ‘W’ suggested Watson. The owner was
careless because the watch had various dints and marks showing
that it was kept in a pocket along with other hard objects such as
keys, coins etc. Originally he had good prospects – a man that
inherits such an expensive watch must be also well provided in
other respects. The inside casing of the watch had (4) different
numbers scratched on the surface. This meant that the watch had
been pawned at least (4) times, as pawnbrokers had the habit to
inscribe the number in the casing for more secure identification.
Deduction? The owner was often in financial straits with
occasional bursts of prosperity when he reclaimed the watch.
Around the keyhole there were very many scratches. This showed a
habitually unsteady hand when rewinding the watch, probably caused
by drinking. And finally the owner of the watch died as Dr. Watson
said the watch had been recently come into his possession.
Of course, in our investigation
we were not so extreme, but we like to think that the principle is
the same.
Guy Noir, Private Eye
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