Ron Johnson put forth on 10/28/2010 2:14 AM: > On 10/28/2010 01:57 AM, Stan Hoeppner wrote: >> Camaleón put forth on 10/27/2010 1:05 PM: >>> There >>> are also "compatible" toner cartridges at lower prices, which I would >>> also avoid :-) >> >> There is no reason to avoid these Camaleón. They work just fine. The >> only difference is that ZERO of the profit goes to the printer >> manufacturer. > > Are you a Utopian Socialist?
The cartridge market is basically currently a 3 tier system (if you ignore the toner refill kit folks): 1. OEM - Cartridge manufactured/branded for the printer manufacturer--most expensive option for consumer 2. Licensed manufacture--same cartridge sold by actual producer under its own brand with "OEM certification". Pays a patent tax to printer manufacturer--2nd most expensive option for consumer 3. Unrelated 3rd party manufacturer independently designs a cartridge to work with OEM manufacturer's printer. Cartridge design is sufficiently different to avoid patent thread. Accepts much lower profit margin in order to sell at a drastically reduced price, drawing customers--least expensive option, usually less than half the cost of the OEM cartridge (#1) This is free market capitalism at its finest. Competition benefiting the consumer, even in the face of patents which attempt to discourage such competition. And you call me a Socialist? >> One of the tenets of FOSS is a free or low cost alternative to >> commercial software. Why then, as a FOSS advocate, would you tell >> people to avoid products made by companies who are trying to save >> consumers money while at the same time providing a quality product? >> > > What makes Joe's Toner Company so much purer of heart, mind and body > than HP, Canon, etc? How did you completely misread what I stated here Ron? I was LARTing Camaleón, not putting a third party toner cartridge company on a pedestal. People pick FOSS not only because it's usually better, but because it is a lower cost solution, i.e. CHEAPER. Why then would such a person pay full retail through the nose for a consumable instead of purchasing the cheaper alternative that functions identically? You totally misread my statements, twice. They were totally clear. How did that happen? -- Stan -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4cc932b8.1090...@hardwarefreak.com