It's not like me to stir the pot and mix up trouble, so I typically don't do it. But every once in a while, even I can get annoyed with a product and go on a rant about it. This "blurb" is just that... a rant.

My rant, and I'm not alone here, comes against Hewlett Packard (HP) and their infamous ink cartridge conundrum. If you frequent our forums, you might have seen my 'Buyer Beware' post last year about HP's false warnings about ink cartridges being empty before they really are. If you missed it, view it here. The gist of the problem is that HP is reporting ink cartridges as empty in what appears to be two different circumstances (both of which are not really the case):

1.) HP starts reporting you should change your ink cartridges when the are about 90% empty, or so you'd think. Many people would likely go out, buy new cartridges and replace them after getting these warnings. Or, "conveniently" you can purchase them from HP's website via the link in the warning box that pops up. But the real problem isn't lack of ink, it's premature warnings. While a few people will still wait until their cartridges die, I suspect many won't... they'll replace them prior to them being empty, and again, I suspect they'll do this when the warnings start to appear or shortly thereafter (as the warnings do get annoying quickly). Personally, I ignored the warnings just once... and my printer worked not only for another day, or just another week. It lasted me a few months on down the road with another 200+ pages. "Time to replace my cartridge?" What the heck for?

2.) I can't personally back this claim, but a new Class Action Lawsuit filed in the US will present this case to a judge. You can read the official story at this link. The argument in this case is similar to my first argument (and in fact, may be the same to an extent), but it states that the cartridges, which use computer chip technology to report ink levels and other data, is reporting the ink cartridges as empty after they "expire." According to the suit, "expire" doesn't mean they are empty; it just means they are past the recommend "use by" date printed on the box. If this holds true, clearly HP could be in for a load of hurting.

I'm personally disappointed at HP's procedure here. HP rules most of the home-user printer world, and this could definitely hurt business and their reputation. While I'm sure their competitors are giddy about the whole suit, this will leave many consumers torn over what they know and trust versus this new damaging information.

Are we feeding our printers more than just white paper? Maybe we are... and maybe it's some of the green kind. We'll keep an eye on this story as it develops, and keep you informed.

For now, I'll get off my soap box.

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-John Derrick
Chairman of PRO-Networks