Ca s'appelle "l'obsolescence programmée"!

So a couple days ago our beloved inkjet printer/scanner/teasmade said "B200 - this is serious - please phone my creator" and refused to do anything more.

I hinted for the message on the internet. Either:

1) the print head is stuck and you just need to remove the dead spider that is stopping it from moving

2) the print head is kaput and you better phone the manufacturer

I examined the printhead for dead spiders. There were none. I gave it a poke. It moved freely.

After my rendezvous with my friend today I called at our local printer-cartridge-monger.

"Hallo!" quoth he, in his best Bwitish accent.

"What ho!" I replied. "J'ai l'erreur B200 et la tête d'impression nest pas coincé"

"Eh bé, ça se répare et la tête coute aux alentours de 70 euros, MAIS parfois il y a un autre souci et elle casse trois mois plus tard. Ca me fait mal de dire que c'est foutu, mais c'est ça."

(I can repair it, but it will cost 70€, and it may go again in a couple of months. I'm sorry to say that it's shot-at, but that's the way it is. I looked up foutu, and it's populaire rather than vulgaire or impoli)

"I thought so", I said. "Now what about this super-duper offer where you buy a printer, pay 50€ up front and get a year's worth of unlimited black printer cartridges?"

"How much do you print?"

"About 200 - 300 per month..."

"Not really worth it. Just buy a printer and the cartridges. I tell you what. Buy a printer, see how much you print this month and we'll judge it from there..."

"Roger."

The printer cost a little more than it would from Amazon, but my local printer-cartridge-monger is a good bloke and useful types like that are worth every penny.


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