His claims are quickly debunked in the article, as the true reason is, obviously, protecting their IP and subscription model
The mad rush to sell the sizzle, not the steak.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have one company create a simple printer that just prints. It does not have a local webpage. It does not monitor your ink supplies. It does not phone home. It uses ink from bottles sold inexpensivly.
The last point does exist, those printers are just more expensive because they are no loss leaders and no ink sales are expected.
The only obvious solution to this new threat is to add certificates to their cartridge chips. And if you don’t use up your signed cartridges within the year that the cartridges had valid certificates, that’s really on you. Also, since we’re so worried about security on our ink cartridges, I’d like to be charged an extra $5 per cartridge if I’d like to register them with McAfee. /s
Also, maybe HP should consider that putting words and images on dead trees is only being accelerated towards its grave by their greedy practices.
Sustainability of a business strategy? But wouldn’t that cost them those sweet short term gains?