I long for the good old days of line printers where all you needed to do to put ink on paper was echo a string to lpt.
Of course you couldn't print pictures, except pictures like this:
Sure, you couldn't "duplex" and you had to rip the tractor feeds off the page - but then again you didn't need a 350MB driver, ink didn't cost more per ounce than Dom and you didn't have to spend hours trying to figure your way through obscure and poorly labeled menus on a tiny LCD screen.
I think you're starting to get the idea here that I like nice, clean designs that don't try to include every possible feature that can be crammed into a device. Sure, I love being able to print out big beautiful full color high resolution pictures. I love being able to quickly print a multi-page document. What I don't love is trying to figure out each manufacturers vocabulary when working with multi-function printers.
In our office we have a decent array of HP and Xerox laser printers, or "Document Centers" and I am CONSTANTLY getting support requests from users trying to perform what should be straight forward simple functions that require so many contortions and commands that it's just unreal. These are functions they perform maybe twice a year and each time it comes up they have to look me up so I can figure out the process and show them how to do it...again.
With the huge amount of money these companies are making on not only the sale of the printer, but also on its supplies and service agreements (do NOT buy an expensive laser multi function document center WITHOUT a support agreement, it WILL break and cost huge sums of money to fix) you'd think they would be trying to simplify their products, not make them more complex. They would be cheaper to design and build in the long run.
Oh well...I have to go figure out how to duplex from autocad...again...
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