Compared to a year or two ago, I find I'm printing ...
Displaying poll results.28059 total votes.
Most Votes
- What AI models do you usually use most? Posted on February 19th, 2025 | 20216 votes
- How often do you listen to AM radio? Posted on February 1st, 2025 | 7249 votes
- Do you still use cash? Posted on February 13th, 2025 | 5742 votes
Most Comments
- How often do you listen to AM radio? Posted on February 13th, 2025 | 85 comments
- What AI models do you usually use most? Posted on February 13th, 2025 | 78 comments
- Do you still use cash? Posted on February 13th, 2025 | 54 comments
You can't grep a dead tree, (Score:2)
But you can grep a first print.
Printing on PAPER!? With INK!? (Score:5, Funny)
How could you be so environmentally unconscious!? I never print anything unless it's on the skin of an endangered animal with lead paint on a printer that runs on coal. When I finish, I burn the remains, generally taking an acre of pristine rain forest with it (you can't be too safe about protecting your privacy).
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Bah, what this world really needs are more oxygen sequestration plants. It's highly reactive, corrosive, and can make just about anything burst into flames in high enough concentrations, yet it's colorless and odorless. It obviously has no place in our atmosphere... the world would be a much better place if we could find a way to cleanse it from our air. I recommend you google "megamaid"
Re: (Score:2)
... because, you know there are no high efficiency, carbon monoxide trapping coal power plants in existence... wait... I recommend you google "carbon sequestration"
How prevalent is carbon sequestration at this time?
Dual Screens Saved Paper, YMMV (Score:4, Insightful)
Although virtual screens helped in the past, what's really cut back my paper consumption has been the added real estate from dual monitors (a 19" + 17"). About the only time I print anything out is when 1) my PM is having a meeting (he's very hard copy-oriented), and 2) when I've got a function I really need some time to puzzle over with a red pen.
Re:Dual Screens Saved Paper, YMMV (Score:5, Insightful)
Richard's paperless office evolution rule: The paperless office will not properly evolve until the user's screen real estate is larger than their desk real estate.
Desktop AND portable real estate (Score:2)
Coupled with that sentiment is the problem of portability: your electronic desk may be bigger than your real desk, but it's not going anywhere either. Tablets make information portable; before viable e-tablets, printing was often done just so you could take information to a meeting. So long as I can get info onto my iPad, I much prefer taking one slim device around the office than "wait a minute, I have to print a copy of that..."
Re: (Score:2)
I've been doing that since I had a Treo 180. Mind you it required a lot more effort back then, I had to carry around a USB cable and a quick-sync utility on a USB flash drive (or even a floppy disk in the earlier days!) and I had to watch the grand total of 16MB of storage carefully. then when I got a Treo 650, I could pull out its folding SD-USB card and plug the USB connector straight into a PC to load documents onto it, and with a couple of gigabytes of storage I didn't have to watch it too carefully. An
Re: (Score:2)
I just duct taped a pocket projector to my iPad so I can shine whatever I'm doing on the nearest wall.
Re: (Score:3)
I mainly print when I need to refer to something away form the computer, e.g. datasheets when making some electronics or instructions for hobby techniques. I am looking to reduce the amount of that I do by having a small PC and monitor at my workbench, but space for a screen is a bit limited because of all the component draws and equipment I have there. Paper can be placed flat on the desk and the thing I am working on placed on top of it if needs be. If it gets damaged then no problem as it is only a sheet
Re: (Score:2)
Nice insight here. I also have gone to a 2 monitor setup with a 1920x1080 and 1280x1024 setup.
I didn't even think about the opportunity cost of saved paper in my "investment"... Good point sir!
Re: (Score:2)
>>Nice insight here. I also have gone to a 2 monitor setup with a 1920x1080 and 1280x1024 setup.
I've switched to an identical setup.
But my main paper-savings come from more entities accepting documents sent online.
Though I'm really not the best example... I didn't even own a printer up until 2005 or so. Didn't see the need.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
It was a real win when the local title company accepted our digitally signed contracts for our recent home purchase. Hurrah for getting rid of paper.
Don't tell anyone, but I signed the PDF for ours digitally -- i.e. editing the pdf they emailed me by pasting our signatures on it and emailing it back. I asked if they'd take a scanned copy, and they said "sure". Then again, maybe that's what you meant, but I assumed you meant a more formal "digital signing" than that, like the IRS's "pick a number, any number" system.
Either way, as you say it's a real win, to save the hassle and extra time of FedEx-ing (if you're out of town) or personally couriering (i
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
identical setup eh with documents online?
Should try a program called Grid Move [dcmembers.com]... I've used it in similar situations with the exact setup.
I dare say it doubled my efficiency. (That is if your stuck on Windows, if your fortunate enough to jump into the Linux world, well that is quite a different story.)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'd say get a big widescreen monitor. Neck turning is an issue and i myself was skeptical at first admiring 4:3 resolution... but there still is a lot to be said for a contiguous large center desktop[ with other monitor(s) to "throw" windows at].
Having previously worked on a 3x1280x1024 setup before, the widescreen has me sold. (I never thought i would utter the words...) :)
---
Either way you gotta love the multi-monitor setups one can achieve today
Re: (Score:2)
I run a dual-widescreen setup at work, and normally a single high-res widescreen at home (although today at home I'm on my dual-4:3 home setup with a widescreen work laptop).
Even with ADHD I tend not to need the screen real estate of three monitors these days, although certain tasks would certainly benefit from it.
Re: (Score:2)
I tend not to need the screen real estate of three monitors these days
Agreed there... too much clutter can be bad.
Personally though I would like to try using just one of those 30 inch 2560x1600 and teach myself only to have another monitor as "backup" for certain projects.
cheers
Re: (Score:2)
Oddly that doesn't appeal to me.
19" widescreen is at the top end of what fits comfortably into my vision, anything bigger and I have to turn my head to look - in which case I may as well have a different monitor there..
The other factor is that for home use, I want a monitor I can run games on at the monitor's natural resolution. Running games at 2560x1600 with all the prettiness turned up would need a teensy bit more horsepower than I currently want to spend on a laptop (my main gaming machine).
Re: (Score:2)
Overpriced ink is going to kill me. Don't know quite where to go when my current printers (which are refillable) die. The newer ones tend to have tiny cartridges, chips to enforce using OEM cartridges and mechanics made to prevent refilling or continuous ink. I'm sorry but I can justify spending $0.40 per A4 print but I can't justify $5.
On the other hand I can display my pictures on my wife's big screen tele. Guess which one wins.
Linux support for non-HP laser printers (Score:2)
Preferably a non-HP one, as the toner will be considerably cheaper then.
I asked a Best Buy sales associate what brand of laser printer is good for use with a Linux laptop, and he said HP. I assume this has something to do with the HPLIP drivers for CUPS. But how well do laser printers from manufacturers other than HP work with Linux? Or is it that the higher cost of HP consumables is the price to pay to live in the free (as in GNU) world?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Linux support for non-HP laser printers (Score:4, Interesting)
I have similar Brother printer, and it works great. I also discovered that if you put a little piece of black tape over the clear little circle on one side, it will report your toner as being full all the time, so it will print well beyond what it would normally. I usually run a cartridge until it gives me toner errors, and then put the tape on so I still have a general idea of when I will be needing a new toner.
Re: (Score:3)
I've had good luck with a Samsung ML-1210 being well supported by CUPS under both Mandriva and now Mint.
Re: (Score:3)
Wow, pretty nice for $30...
Last year we dropped $150 on a Samsung ML-2851ND, which does 1200x1200, full duplexing, and network printing. Very happy with it. It was easier to install under Linux than Windows.... just select it from the CUPS list and toss in its IP address and everything just works.
Re: (Score:2)
Your safest bet is to get a printer that supports one of the standard printer languages e.g. PCL or postscript. Most network printers (or printers with a network option) will support at least one of those. Dumber printers are likely to be more hit and miss (that doesn't mean they won't work but it means someone has to have written a driver for them).
Personally I picked up a used kyocera FS3900DN for £100, fast (even when duplexiing due to it's ability to print a page while feeding a different page thr
Re: (Score:2)
I bought an HP Color Laser. You can buy toner refil kids online and refil the toner for a fraction of the price HP charges you.
Re: (Score:2)
Afaict there is no mechanism on laser printers for reading how much toner is actually in the cartridge, so they give a "tonor low" warning after some conservative calculated lifetime. Afaict it's not unusual for toner cartridges of most decent brands to last quite a bit longer than their rated lifetime, especially if they are shaken up a bit every so often to keep the toner evenly distributed.
The toners for your printer don't look too expensive to me either, more expensive than for the kyocera I picked up o
Re: (Score:3)
Too right. Damn kids these days - don't appreciate the value of bleeding all over a tractor-fed dot-matrix listing - far far away from the keyboard, where you have the luxury to actually think about the problem, instead of key in and try the first thing that pops into your head. Fast compile and test cycles aren't always a blessing.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm printing the same as then. (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Well if you're talking that sort of printing (with a pen) then I would be printing less also. They have kiosks at work for doing ADL's we started using the system just over 6 months ago. Of course theres still some 'paper' paperwork, hopefully the management will let us cut down on the duplication soon.
Home=nil Work=dead trees (Score:2)
Never print at home... Have to print out a ton of crap I don't want to at work. More forms, and useless documents than ever before.
Re: (Score:2)
same as me at home, but home is also "at work" for me. since i didn't print more than 10 pages/year 2 years ago, i had to vote for "same". i abolished printing 10 years ago.
just what would be the ton of crap at work?
Re: (Score:2)
I stopped owning a printer at home when the inkjet cartridges would go bad before I used them up.
fortunately at work we are so far flung that electronic forms are easier. email, a protected excel spreadsheets(since adobe forms are a pain) works better. Though several of the old time guys still print and keep a hard copy of everything they do, even they generally use email and scans to send out their information.
So at work for 4 people I have three printers going through 7,000 sheets a month. And that is
Former Xerox operator. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Meanwhile I was thinking Nike.
Laziness and lack of education breeds the folk that allow cheque to be spelled check and deem it acceptable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheque#Spelling [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Laziness and lack of education breeds the folk that allow cheque to be spelled check and deem it acceptable.
Or it could be this website is located in the United States and not in "the Commonwealth and Ireland" per your link [wikipedia.org]. Cheers.
More, I guess. (Score:2)
Last year I printed nothing. This year, I printed a copy of the inspection report for the home I'm buying. I guess that counts as "more".
Life changes = more printing (Score:3)
It's not that I choose to print more, but as the kids get older I'm starting to spool out more homework assignments, permission slips, study lists, etc. For those reasons alone, I've gone through a lot more paper recently than before. I'm glad I have a nice color laser so that at least I don't have to buy new ink cartridges when they inevitably dry up biweekly.
Re: (Score:2)
I was going to make a similar comment. There are a lot of different reasons why your printing rate might change. I think the intent of the poll is to get at whether people whose lives have not changed much in other aspects (same job, etc.) are keeping things more "paperless office" than before, but I'm in the position of simply not being a grad student anymore so I don't have tons of science journal papers to pore over, etc.
Re: (Score:2)
I print more than before since I'm working on a different project, but the project is probably using less paper than it would have done a couple of years ago.
Other than that, I print gig tickets and the occasional boarding pass. I don't own a printer, I print these at work.
A couple of years ago I printed maps and recipes, but I use my phone or netbook for those now.
Last week I printed a letter to my MP. I could have emailed, but I thought a letter would be taken more seriously.
Re:Life changes = more printing (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Think about printing term papers and stuff like that. I guess they could print that stuff at school, but it's a lot easier from home and the school system would probably require one printer per student plus a full-time administrator for every 5 printers.
more-- ink is cheaper (Score:2)
I print a bit more because the cost went down a lot.
My old all-in-one, an HP Photosmart 2610, had a defect. A spring retaining clip for the cartridges was designed too close to the ribbon cable connecting to the print head, and can tear it. Rather common problem with that model, I understand. Also, the underside of the glass of the scanner had somehow fogged up, and it proved impossible to remove for cleaning.
I would have preferred not replacing it, but other family members like having one. And not
Re: (Score:2)
I have 2 printers a samsung black & white laser ml2510 and a Hp scanner / printer a psc2175.
The Samsung over the last 4 years or so has had the original cartridge refilled once £25 and about 2 years ago got a replacement cartridge again about 25 euro and an initial cost of about £60.
The HP hasn't been used for printing for at least the last 18 months but does get used as a scanner fairly regularly. Yesterday I needed to print on thin card which my laser wouldn't take more than on
Too short a timeframe (Score:3)
Compared to a year or two ago? Not much has changed - I haven't printed much at all for easily 4-5 years; probably longer.
If the question had been "compared to a DECADE ago", then I'd be able to say I print much less.
Numerical analysis (Score:2)
much more this year than then (Score:2)
Older kids=more printing (Score:2)
Look for a memjet video and be prepared to be stunned.
Bring me low cost ink and the memjet technology and I might re-integrat
Re: (Score:2)
Still a 500 pack of paper can last 3 years.
And that is the great thing about laser printers, you can leave them for a long time (I think i've seen one go over a year without printing anything and come out fine), come back and print something with little to no hassle (sometimes a shake of the toner cart is needed).
Inkjets OTOH have a habit of clogging beyond the point where the cleaning cycles can clean the nozzles out if left for too long. On a HP that means new cartridges on an epson it means a new printer (in theory it's possible to change out the
bought a good printer (Score:2)
smashed my last SAMSUNG laser printer with a hammer after the PSU died for a second time, and only 100 pages. Bought an old Lexmark commercial Laser printer (AU$88) and I've printed twice as much, in duplex, through a network.
I hate printers. (Score:3)
I try not to print. Unfortunately I tend to have to for jobs. I actually printed something for myself this morning, a rebate form to get money back from a video card purchase, I can't recall the last time I printed for myself before then. Last years taxes maybe? Is that really for me?
I actually bought this poster [theoatmeal.com]. Not just the little one that comes in the book, but the real ordered from the website one.
Re: (Score:2)
While the poster contains some hyperbole, some of it is (sadly) true. I bought a more expensive laser printer over a cheap ink jet, after my previous ink jet did the "One color cartridge is expired, nothing B&W will print until you replace it" routine twice in a few months (and the colors were not sold separately, necessitating two separate three-packs of colors for the two I needed).
Laser jet toner, fortunately, has a MUCH better shelf life, and if you shop around, you can get a good printer that is b
Re: (Score:2)
When I buy inkjet ink I buy the cheapest stuff I can find.
I print so little that my ink usually drys and clogs the nozzles, it doesn't matter if it's brand new original manufacturer ink or refills/generic they clog in about the same amount of time.
I sort of want one of those melted wax printers, they print beautifully and the ink can sit around without being used for years without a problem, you just have to wait a really long time for it to warm up. Seriously, what type of printer should a guy who only pri
Re: (Score:2)
An inexpensive Laser Jet. Go with a simple Brother B&W, get Duplex, Networking, Color, Scanning, etc. only if you need it. The toner will sit for months and still be fine, and is cheaper per page than ink. Hit up the Brother page to find the model you want, then Google to find the best price. Your local Staples or such may even have sales or floor models cheap. (Also, Craig's List, etc. if you want to get a second hand one...)
Re: (Score:2)
I get the sentiment. I also used to buy bottom-end cheap printers. Always problems with those guys. You get what you pay for!
Currently in my office I have a HP OfficeJet Pro L7580 all-in-one printer, a fairly high-end printer as consumer retail models go. And I have to say I'm quite happy with it. Sheet feeder, scanner, fax, copier - it does the job well. Large ink cartridges, a couple thousand pages on before black is empty, longer for colour (which I hardly use). No problems with jams, as long as the in
Print for hardcopies to archive and ... (Score:2)
I print them only for hardcopies to archive and for those who hates reading on screens.
Paperless office? Not yet... (Score:2)
I still find having a printer to be indispensable, but I definitely print less... but it's probably because I'm not longer a high-school teacher anymore :)
I will say though that as a grad student, I'm definitely printing far less than I did in undergrad./
reading documents on ipad (Score:2)
I have to review (and comment on) on average 500 pages of legal, engineering, due diligence documents, feasibility studies etc each week. I used to print these out double sided, 2 per side to bring to read during meetings, during flights and while on the road. But the ipad now changed all that. With apps like Goodreader and other MS office editor apps, my printing is down from about 150 sheets per week to less than 5.
In fact, the ipad allows me to keep my pdf annotations; I can search through them, and send
Ink's dried up... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I got pissed off with ink drying up too and for ages didn't have a functioning printer at home but I kept getting annoyed by the lack of one. If I want to print something (be it a map or a datasheet) I want to be able to do it then and there not wait until I can get to uni or my parents house. Also the printer in my office at uni doesn't do duplex (I do have access to a printer that does but given it's relatively slow it's still an annoyance).
My solution was to buy a used kyocera FS3900DN for £100 fro
Much Much more than last year (Score:2)
And, depending on how tired I am and how fast my hands can move, I get quite decent framerates too - sometimes as much as 2fps
Pity I get no sound, though
The point at which printer companies are concerned (Score:2)
I didn't print much last year to begin with, so "a bit less" was all I could say. Hard to say "much less" when there isn't that much to lessen.
Granted, the fact that I actually work for a printer company should probably make me a bit concerned by that...
Re: (Score:2)
Ink sucks (Score:2)
Since I hardly ever print anything, the ink cartridges in my printer get clogged and don't work anymore. $50 well spent.
Nowadays I just use the printer at work on the rare occasions I do need to print. Probably less than 50 pages per year, for business and personal.
Printing, but not paper (Score:2)
I use my home printer for one thing: printing on magazine paper or toner transfer paper for etching circuit boards. That's why I got the printer, in fact, because I haven't needed to print anything for years. The plotters are even further removed from putting ink on paper: they have high-power laser diodes where the pens used to be so they're burning material. Right now they're still just plotting designs on stuff but I'm hoping to get to the point where they can cut fabric and paper like a vinyl sign cu
Bought A Printer (Score:2)
Not a big fan of it (Score:2)
I'm actively digitizing a lot of printed technical documents that I have. We have a sheet fed scanner at work that also doubles as a printer. I always find it amusing in a clown dying sort of way when I'm sitting there digitizing hundreds of pages and some schmuck prints out a copy of a digital book or something. Half the time no one ever comes to claim the printout. Sort of want to grab these people and yell "you're doing it wrong!!!!"
Wish I did but no (Score:2)
I haven't owned a printer in over 10 years but I wish I did every time I get an airline boarding pass in my email. Thankfully they can scan a phone screen these days.
Last option does not exclude previous ones (Score:2)
Last option does not exclude previous ones:
I do not own a printer, but I use one at work once in a while: reading papers is still more pleasant from a printout.
Note to myself: request 3rd e-ink-based monitor at work.
I hate my HP printer (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I have 3 dried out inkers in my home-computer room (Score:2)
Printing is mostly for work (Score:2)
A couple of years ago I was still employed, Printing was mostly something I did for meetings. That's gone now.
At home, most of my printing is maps and directions. Since getting a smart phone, I am trying not to do that.
Than Then (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think it's more likely to collect marketing data for a printer manufacture.
Proofreading (Score:2)
I work as a writer and I do the following to make sure there are no errors in my writing:
1) Print and read to myself aloud
2) Have OS X's speech feature read the article back to me
3) Occasionally reread once again on the screen and/or print one more time on the reverse side of the previous paper
Seeing it on paper forces my eyes to focus differently. I tend to find errors that I missed while looking at the display. I like walking around the room while I read it back to myself.
Online documents keep improving (Score:2)
I've found that most organizations I deal with have, over time, gone from paper-only, to online documents formatted for paper being grudgingly offered online, to online documents formatted for reading online being the default choice.
I finally got a smart phone, and discovered that, in situations in which I previously would have printed out a document to take with me, I can now read the document on my phone browser. For instance, in the past, if I were to do work on the inside of the case of my computer, I'd
Dual Monitors (Score:2)
Once I got a second monitor a few years ago I noticed that I printed significantly less. Once I was able to keep my code / notes / FAQs open in one window and work in another, the need to print anything for reference was significantly reduced.
Moral of the story... save trees, dual flat screens for everyone!
Re: (Score:2)
For coding, absolutely. Gaming too. I have four 23" flatscreens and it works great for having a PDF up on one monitor, the web browser up on another for O'Reilly Safari access, a third for my file system, and the fourth for an ssh session.
[John]
vproof works better on paper (Score:2)
Still print because my copy of vproof (proof-reader proggie) does not really work on the screen.
None (Score:3)
Kids mean I print more (Score:3)
My kids are in grade school, and the use of the printer has skyrocketed. Ended up buying a HP Color Laserjet on clearance since the inkjets are so incredibly resource hogs with ink (not to mention the speed of printing).
Gaming (Score:2)
When I run my Shadowrun games (or others), I buy the PDF and move it into a wiki so I can highlight important parts but I still print out the module in case something happens with the computer or for maps and other handouts.
Since three of us have iPads, I've been considering pushing out the handouts on the fly.
[John]
Re: (Score:2)
Most people don't understand the pain of trying to skim through a hundred 48"x36" drawings in pdf format compared to the ease of doing it in a paper set. (Although we typically use half-size prints since our workspaces are too small)
My printing may go down this year when we are scheduled to get two monitors each, though I fell they won't be big enough
Re: (Score:2)
Why do you do this ? Comparing sounds like a problem the computer should be doing and highlighting it for you.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Back then, paper was the original that you kept for records, and printing was a pain in the ass. You tended to keep the paper copy and modify it directly without printing too often. Nowadays, the electronic file is the original you need to keep, and printing is the temporary
If you don't think priinting is useful, you've never had to browse through 100's of scanned large format drawings in
Re: (Score:2)
UK too.
For my recent applications for benefits, I have sumbitted two 45 page forms (handwritten) (that counts as printing too!), and around 50 pages of text evidence.
The text evidence has been sent around twice each time, as they are so mind-bogglingly inefficient at actually opening their post, and I absolutely need to ensure it's got there.
And of course I can't email it, or even fax it in.
Re: (Score:2)
And you probably used more paper too, as the other end will have printed it off.
Re: (Score:2)
One thing I find is catalogues are generally much easier to "look through" than most suppliers websites. If I know exactly what I want (e.g. 1M 0402 resistor) then the websites are fine but if my requirements are fuzzier (e.g. find a suitable enclosure for this project) then I find grabbing the printed catalogue, turning to the relavent section and just looking through it to be easier.
Re: (Score:2)
iPad3? Didn't Apple just announce the iPad2?
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, your post made it sound like you already had one.
ARTHUR: What?
GALAHAD: He says they've already got one!
ARTHUR: Are you sure he's got one?
GUARD: Oh, yes, it's very nice-a. [To Other Guards] I told him we already got one. [snicker snicker]
Re: (Score:2)