On Sun, 16 Aug 2020 23:23:15 +0100, "Commander Kinsey"
wrote:

On Fri, 31 Jul 2020 10:20:33 +0100, Eric Stevens wrote:

On Thu, 30 Jul 2020 17:50:43 +0100, "Commander Kinsey"
wrote:

On Sun, 19 Jul 2020 05:15:16 +0100, Eric Stevens wrote:

On Sat, 18 Jul 2020 22:59:41 +0100, "Commander Kinsey"
wrote:

On Sun, 12 Jul 2020 05:02:58 +0100, Eric Stevens wrote:

On Sun, 12 Jul 2020 00:47:50 +0100, "Commander Kinsey"
wrote:

On Sat, 11 Jul 2020 19:42:58 +0100, Bennett Price wrote:

On 7/9/2020 5:13 AM, Commander Kinsey wrote:
Every time I buy a new printer, it's changed. New stupid quirks,
different ink cartridges. But not faster, not better quality, nothing
useful. There was no need to make it different.

So far I've seen only 1 response that answers your question -
parallel-serial to USB to wifi-Ethernet and the addition of slots for
various sorts of memory cards.

To these I'd add that features like duplexing, and increases in speed
have gone up while prices have gone down. Ditto cost/higher resolution.

I don't think the changes/improvements are simply marketing ploys - how
often does anyone buy a new printer to get the latest? I'd guess most
folks replace an old printer because it has failed or can't connect to
a new computer. (I added an LPT/Parallel card to my desktop PC to
connect to a fairly old Laser.)

I had that problem where I worked which had Apple computers - in that case I bought adapters to go into the serial ports, cheaper and easier to fit/swap around than a card. But PCs tend to keep the old ports for a decade afterwards. I bought a motherboard with a serial and parallel port on the back about only 5 years ago. When was it USB came out?

So I think there have been improvements and corresponding cost
reductions. I'm still waiting for the print-what-I'm thinking about
feature.

But you've listed only a handful of proper feature changes. I bet you there are about 250 models of Epson inkjet ever made.

I bet there is a damned sight more than that. In Desktop printers
there is the Workforce Series, ET Series, XP Series, Artisan Series
and the Stylus Series.

In large format printers they currently list 24 different models.

They currently list 10 different models of Point of Sale printers.

Leaving out the point of sale printers, the various printer models
currently listed under 'Support & Downloads' a
Eco Tank Multifunction printers 18
Eco Tank printers 3
Multifunction Printers 118
Inkjet Printers 113
Large Format Printers 72
----
324

Apart from that, there will be a long tail of utterly obsolete
printeres trailing into the distant past.

Indeed. And since 324 improvements have not been made to printers in that time, most of those were a complete and utter waste of time and money. Presumably making a new one requires a lot of expense of tooling. If one manufacturer just stuck to a single model and only changed it every 10 years, they could make a fortune.

Why don't you find a financier and set up in business?

Preferably one who remains unaware of the impact that CNC has had on
the cost of tooling.

It's not just the tooling cost. It's ****ing off the customers when they can't get the same model again. Imagine if you could buy an identical model the next time, you'd keep your old one for spare parts. And don't say that would reduce sales. It may do that, but it would increase your customer base from companies that ****ed them around.

The point I'm trying to make is the the advent of computers has
brought the cost of making press and molding tooling down to a
fraction of what it was. It is now cheap to set up a production line
for a new product and anyone who expects to go on selling the same
printer for ten years will quickly find themselves several generations
behind the competition.

They won't, since printer tech doesn't advance very often. You only need to make a new model if there's tech in it that wasn't in the last one.

You should tgake courses in both manufacturing and marketing.
--

Regards,

Eric Stevens