[telemeter]

It's not about the USB cable, it's about getting the device on the purchaser's network so it can phone home with all kinds of juicy telemetry that may (in the case of consumables) or may not (in the case of other data gathered from the network) have anything to do printing.

HP (and printer manufacturers generally) have long led the way in enshittification.

[kalleboo]

In the case of HP, it's because they sell printers where you get a discount on the price of the hardware if you promise to sign up for an ink subscription, and that requires the printer to phone home with the ink levels.