[ephbit]

Haven't most companies that produce home electronics converged to device designs that guarantee steady revenue streams (as opposed to: sell once every 20 years devices)?

By doing things like: opting for subscription models, short device lifetime, cross financing the device through asking high prices for commodities like the cartrigdges.

I guess it's just more obvious with printers because you have this duality of the device itself _and_ the need for a steady supply of either toner or ink, which most companies abuse with nasty business models.

I have an almost 20 years old HP b/w home laser printer (guess one of the first with USB, no ethernet). It doesn't copy/scan, it can only print.

I don't use it much and it produces some minor artefacts but mostly works surprisingly well after so many years. The cheap toner costs like 10 USD or so and lasts several years with my usage.

No printer company would design such a device nowadays anymore. Since it has no network access it cannot be updated to stop working.

Many people want to print over network today and if I wanted to I could plug it into our router so I can print over WIFI.