ProprieTERROR!! Technology in Endless Limbo

[evenwolf]

Despite my best efforts at a witty title, I befuddled the root word "proprietary."  As in "Sony is a bunch of proprietary bastards."   Undeniably there was a day long ago when inventors worried about the competition stealing their own design.   So they built in otherwise redundant features as a sort of safety lock.     As a form of authorship protection.    But today proprietary honestly means "Make the consumer think its broken so he keeps buying more stuff."

These days I find myself buying loads and loads of crap because when a tiny spring breaks - I'm supposed to believe the ENTIRE machine is broken.   There are too many times in my life when I find myself MAN VS. MACHINE.   And I slump away disgusted with myself because the hulking beast that is technology beats me over the head with my own chair.     Most instances are not mechanical failure.   I wish that was the case.  Most cases I am defeated by proprietary concepts.

Case in point:   I own a 3 in 1 printer/fax/scanner made by Canon.    I bought this device as a method of convenience.  Instead of storing a scanner and a printer side by side... I've got them both in one unit.   Sounds logical by anyone's estimation....  Yesterday I wanted to scan an image so I booted up the old machine.    I had forgotten that I had thrown out an empty ink cartridge weeks ago... but who cares?   I'm not printing anything based on this scan anyways.    So I boot the damn machine and it's blinking red.    "Check Ink Cartridge".

Surely, it will let me scan.   This has nothing to do with ink.   "Check Ink Cartridge" it repeats.   "Ah fuck you, I'll just go around you in photoshop and override your controls!"    "Check Ink Cartridge" it repeats.

It's the modern day version of "The Raven".     This printer will not let me use ANY of its functions if it has an empty ink slot.   Sort of like a hungry baby... until you put food in its mouth don't expect it to listen to you.    And this seems to happen with all modern day appliances. Sony MiniDV cameras MUST have Sony tapes I'm told because every other tape is not properly lubricated and will break the camera.     I can't vent my frustration enough.  Making DVDs would be easy but changing the file format from MPG to AVI costs an arm and a leg..... and about 17 useless trial programs that stick their own watermark on the movie.

As for the printer it's enough that companies make 800 exclusive types of ink cartridges WITHIN their own brand.   So I couldn't buy an HP cartridge let alone any old Canon cartridge.   I'm pigeon holed into buying one specific product anyways BUT YOU MAKE IT WORSE with this buffoonery!

And....and....and..... every time these atrocities happen I seem to never have anyone to talk to.   To tell my anger.   To just let it go up in steam.    Let this be that place.

[auriond]

I hear you. Having more competitors in the industry is supposed to be good for the consumer, because we have more choice... but it's resulted in the companies trying to shackle you to one certain format/brand/model/etc.

(There are ways to convert mpegs to good quality avis for free and using only freeware... but it's quite tedious.)

[InCreator]

Man vs. machine?

Dude.
Adopt.

I've been using TDK tapes in my Sony MiniDV for 5 years. Nothing's damaged yet.
Even if it somehow gets damaged, MiniDV is old news anyway. Record, firewire, watch all the crap again, load batteries... Quality will be much better with memory cards, which seem to conquer digital video world too (photocameras use them for ages now). Also, MiniDV tapes tend to get those annoying fat black lines over video sometimes, especially if tape collects dust or lies in low-temperature place for some time or even lies perfectly boxed... err... and gets lines for no reason whatsoever. DVD is much safer bet to hold video anyway, so I capture and burn everything as soon as I get video made. If I won't do it immediately, I probably won't, ever, so there's no matter.

About printers, I own HP printer/scanner/copier combine, but I tend to avoid it like a disease. Not that I've truly needed it yet either. I got enough printer repairing (and kicking) at work. Printers are EVIL.

Still,
Adopt.

You don't really have to make your life difficult by using things, brands and tech that doesn't suit you.
Also, you don't have to invent a bicycle. MPG to AVI? What for? Is it really something that couldn't START as an avi?

Maybe there's alternative to each your technological problem? Not found yet? Maybe looking for one would take less time and frustration than messing with problem? Maybe handed out 15 bucks works better than week of downloading all kinds of crap only to find out watermarks later? Or maybe P2P program would work as well? A sin? Hahahaha... is losing hair at early age better choice?

I had similar problems before, but right now, I can't think of any. Everything seems to be moved into place. I know that some of them were due new technology, but I know that my tech usage habits have changed too.

Why challenge technology all the time? Or your nerves?

[DanielMax]

(There are ways to convert mpegs to good quality avis for free and using only freeware...)
[/quote]

Here's a good start --> http://www.erightsoft.com/S6Kg1.html
(the download is way at the bottom)

[Andail]

My pet peeve is definitely the ink cartridges. The printer itself costs a hundred dollars or so...and after a year you've easily spent twice that amount on ink alone.
The idea is just insanely environmentally unfriendly and expensive. Instead of just refilling ink into an container - I mean, ink itself is rather cheap, we're not talking liquid gold or perfume here - you have these bulky disposable plastic cartridges that must be tossed after one use.

One day, when my wealth has increased a bit, I'm gonna buy one of those larger printers/plotters to which you can actually buy ink in large packages and re-fill yourself.

[Vince Twelve]

The ink thing pisses me off too.  It used to be that you could refill a standard ink cartridge with your own ink and save tons of money.  But now, they all come with computer chips that record how many times you use them and then automatically shut off.  It's complete bullshit, too, because they usually have more ink inside the cartridge but there's no way to get at it because the company decided that you've used it enough and should have to buy a new one.

Printer companies are a special kind of evil.

I mean, ink itself is rather cheap, we're not talking liquid gold or perfume here

Amen.  Yet you'd think you were based on the prices:

• Lipton Ice Tea                $       9.52 per gallon
• Ocean Spray                  $     10.00 per gallon
• Gatorade                       $     10.17 per gallon
• Diet Snapple                  $     10.32 per gallon
• Evian water                    $     21.19 per gallon
• Brake Fluid                     $     33.60 per gallon
• Scope Mouthwash         $     84.48 per gallon
• Pepto Bismol                  $   123.20 per gallon
• Vick’s Nyquil                   $   178.13 per gallon
• HP Printer Ink                $5,200.00 per gallon

[Darth Mandarb]

I got a new phone yesterday ...

And OF COURSE the new phone has a "much improved all-new-fandangled" power cord connection.  So, OF COURSE, I have to buy a new adapter for my car.  So ridiculous.  I owned my other phone with it's (FAR inferior) power cord for almost 2 years and never had a single problem with it so it does make sense that this new phone would require an all new, and much improved, power cord.

Normally I would complain to the people about this ... but of course, since customer service is now a dead-art form nobody cares and wouldn't listen anyway.

I am moving to Japan.  I have heard that customer service is great over there and that they're all incredibly polite!  Now I just need to learn to speak Japanese ... can't be too hard right?  But wait!  If America is any indicator all I really need to do is move over there and insist that THEY speak MY language!  I can't lose!!

[evenwolf]

Man vs. machine?

Dude.
Adopt.

Still,
Adopt.

Are you suggesting I adopt a boy or a girl?   To help beat the machine?   Or perhaps you mean adapt.

Perhaps you own a tech company yourself?  The point of the thread wasn't specifically to ask anyone to send me their mini-DV tapes, or to link me to a free converter.    But the fact that you say "Why do you need to anyways?" seems rather uncreative.    The point is that companies safeguard the use of their products from the consumers they are serving.    How can anyone really question this fact.    Should I adapt to not using my scanner?   ( I eventually put an ink cartridge into my printer but it was several days without access to my scanner.)    Consumers "adapting" to these proprietary scams is the equivalent to a sheep adapting to a wolf chewing on its leg.   

Vince: is $5,200   an actual figure?  You have to be kidding me!    It's a damn good thing car companies don't force you into buying a specific brand of gas, isn't it.   We'd be paying upwards of 6 dollars a gallon by default.  ---edit-- Gulp.... considering they charge 5200 a gallon for ink, perhaps gas would be 100K per!!

Andail:   I bought a refiller pack for my ink.   I took great time and effort to fill up the ink cartridge with a syringe but not before staining my hands a dozen times only to find the ink draining from the cartridge.  This product was rather frustrating... and started my long love/hate relationship with the device.

Darth:    Proprietary phone adapters are the worst.   What I did was just buy an AC/DC adapter for my car.   Or rather a DC/AC adapter because my phone only came with the cigarette plug.   It cost a third of the price and worked with alot of devices so I was happy.

[InCreator]

Yeah, I guess I meant adapt. It's an international forum anyway, so tiny english mistakes should be common enough. Not everyone is a native speaker.

It's not like you don't have a choice? If Canon printer irritates you, choose another one. Why did you buy a printer that doesn't suit your needs?

I mean, I wouldn't buy an umbrella with a hole in it. And then be angry at company.

Uncreative?
Whining is.
If you called up people to boycott company X or simply warned about products of company X or something, it would be constructive, or atleast, informative and useful. If you're whining in general, it's stupid.

And maybe it would have been better, if you DID ask solutions for specific problems, like tool to convert video or printer that doesn't work like this. Isn't that what other people do?
There wouldn't be anything to complain about then, right?

[evenwolf]

You're absolutely right InCreator.   I should have tested the printer in the store.

"Excuse me sales person!  Pull up a computer and some cords!   We're going to scan pictures until this printer runs dry!"

InCreator, I suggest you tuck your top lip under your chin.   When you repeat a phrase to me that's condescending.  And you confuse the damn phrase... I'm going to call you on it.

I'm sure you're a great person.   I'm sure I rubbed you the wrong way with a consumer advocacy thread.   But digging at me because of an unseen defect with the product does not compare to a hole in an umbrella.     A comparable product would be an umbrella that looks like it has no holes in the store but then grows a hole in it only when its outside and raining.

This thread is about proprietary mechanisms in consumer products.   Not broken or faulty products.   You'll find that every printer manufacturer has these same mechanisms, like metering the amount of ink you've used in one cartridge and disabling its further use.   So sure let's boycott all printers and let's boycott this or that.    I am a consumer who sucks it up most of the time but by making this thread I've already learned great information from Vince, Darth, and Andail   whereas you clearly prefer to be a stick in the mud.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

One day, when my wealth has increased a bit, I'm gonna buy one of those larger printers/plotters to which you can actually buy ink in large packages and re-fill yourself.

My brother proved this was no more economically sound than just buying ink cartridges, owing up to the fact that printer ink is expensive even when bought in bottles for the refill cartridges, and ultimately you end up saving very little money (and potentially making a mess).


As far as minor problems in hardware forcing you to buy a replacement, there's a wealth of information on the net if you look for doing repairs.  Granted, sometimes you need a bit of knowledge about discrete components (I have a EET degree so it's no problem for me), but usually you just need a soldering iron, some good solder, and patience.  A perfect example of this was my old DVD player, which shipped from Philips with a known capacitor defect where one particular cap would overload and pop, rendering the machine useless.  I quickly found the damaged one in question (check for bulges in the tin tops or general swelling) and replaced it with a larger capacitor and the problem was solved.

The thing is, most people are just too damn lazy anymore to take that kind of effort.  We live increasingly in a society where people want to do the absolute minimum amount of effort for the absolute maximum returns, so is it so surprising when products begin reflecting this behavior and breaking easily?

[evenwolf]

Ah, but that capacitor is a defect not a proprietary function.

I'll be the first admit that I don't know the first thing about soldering.   But i watch alot of those "make your own" videos on youtube for making little gadgets.    Its a hobby I've been meaning to take up.    No real defects are plaguing me at the moment.   

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I understand what you're saying, and I'd say it's related to a lack of strong competition in the market, or companies with big lobbyist entitlements strongarming the market and pushing out competition.  They're basically creating proprietary hardware because no one is pressuring them with strong alternatives.

This statement by auriond:

I hear you. Having more competitors in the industry is supposed to be good for the consumer, because we have more choice... but it's resulted in the companies trying to shackle you to one certain format/brand/model/etc.

is entirely inaccurate for anyone who understands free markets.  True competition eliminates the fat, crushes shoddy businesses and only the best products at competitive prices prevail.  Unfortunately, the competitive market we enjoy in the US and worldwide is not a free market, and the large corporations become bloated and pay money to their governments in exchange for 'favors' that allow them to unfairly dominate markets. 

Competition is not bad; competition with deals/favors in high places to pressure better and cheaper products out of circulation is.

I highly recommend a visit to Mises.org.  There's a wealth of both free and cheap books on the subject of pure economics and how the system works and can be abused.

[Mr Flibble]

When I was first dabbling with building computers, non standard components (ie. proprietary designs by some stupid manufacturer who thought they were being clever) were the bane of my very existence.

Some say they drove me mad.

Others watched as I literally cut a heatsink up with a Junior hacksaw to make the bastard fit.

[radiowaves]

I hope that is a lesson for you to never trust electronic compaines. it was your own naive mind that decided to buy printer and a scanner in one piece -- in my opinion, that is just redicolous. You can't just hope anything good from it, especially if the price isn't anything either. How was the quality at least?

I also have a printer, used it to its fullest, now its out of ink and I have no plans to fill it up. i once tried, but they sold me an old ink cartridge -- damn bastards!!!!

[evenwolf]

Why are some folks acting like they make their own printers in their basement?   "You BOUGHT a belt?    How silly!  I make my own with straps of leather and a hole punch!"

Radiowaves:    The printer quality is excellent!  The colors are amazing and the scan resolution is wonderful.   The fax works great too.   One of the main reasons my mom and I went for it is because its a copy machine.    You literally feed the paper in at the top and a few seconds later a copy comes out at the bottom.  Very nice because we've saved money from visiting Kinko's.



I am not complaining about the quality of the device or its performance.    Simply this one proprietary function which guarantees nothing else works when it is missing a cartridge.   Don't misunderstand.   I am a real consumer when it comes to buying shit like this.   I did my research online.   I sifted thru the specs, ignoring superficial ones.   Everything about this printer I love.  I've had it for about a year 1/2 with no problems.    This one proprietary issue took this long to find out.

So I got a printer cartridge and it works fine again.   But I was on a deadline when it happened, so surely you understand the frustration.   

I think a few people are reading into the colorful language I used to interpret that I hate the printer.  This is not true.  It's probably one of the best I could have gotten.  Maybe I can hack it or something?   And make the secondary functions work when there's no ink, eh?

[MrColossal]

So wait, you put your printer in your scanner and are now surprised that it won't fax?!

[evenwolf]

I actually faxed a copy of my printer to myself, scanned it, then tried to email it into my USB port.   Fucker won't fit!   ARGH!  CONSUMER ANGRY!  CONSUMER SMASH!!!!

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

HULK FAX!

[evenwolf]

omg..... if you're not whipping up a comic of that I hope someone will.    That's worth a google right now.

--- end google search ----  Yep, it would actually be a first timer.