• Zak@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    I don’t own a printer because it’s 2024 and the only good reason to own a printer is photo/art prints at a scale where outsourcing it isn’t economical.

    I’m aware other reasons exist, but they’re bad reasons that mostly boil down to someone being bad at computers.

    • Dojan@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Nah, there are definitely cases where you need to print stuff on paper, and need said paper fast enough to warrant a printer. If I use my company credit card for expenses I need to account for that, and for legal reasons I need to send that to our accountant in printed form. I can’t legally mail it to him.

      Now I could obviously take 30 minutes and print it at the library, but those 30 minutes would add up fairly fast, making a printer the more accessible and economical option.

      • T156@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Now I could obviously take 30 minutes and print it at the library, but those 30 minutes would add up fairly fast, making a printer the more accessible and economical option.

        Privacy is also an issue. There might be reasons why you don’t want to have something printed out at the library/local print shop, like if it’s tax documents, and someone hitting “repeat job” could just have it spit out personal info.

        • Dojan@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Oh yeah that’s a fantastic point I’d failed to even consider. I don’t really care if my credit card bills end up cached somewhere at the library, like, what are they going to do with it? Pay it?

          If I on the other hand dealt with personal identifiable data, that could be hugely problematic. I can see the need for e.g. a lawyer having to print case files and assemble documents physically. In such a scenario, printing it at a library, or at a third party company might not be a great idea.

          If you for some reaosn also want your nudes (or I suppose, erotic artwork) in print, I can see how you might not want to have that done by a company. I don’t think I’d personally care, but maybe the person dealing with it at the company shouldn’t have to see that sort of thing.

      • Zak@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I need to send that to our accountant in printed form. I can’t legally mail it to him.

        This is exactly the sort of thing I meant by “someone being bad at computers”. That someone might be a government regulator in this case.

        • Dojan@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Ah, I see. It sounded more like “someone doesn’t know how to just mail something.”

        • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          Are you going to pay for all the systems and processes that need to change to get away from the paper trail?

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      I use it a lot for construction. Printed job specs are much easier / faster to deal with than a computer on a job site. You can staple them to a wall, quickly draw on them, use them when your hands are filthy, have multiple large copies floating around, etc. Paper is usually just a better solution for that environment.

      • Zak@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        That’s an environment I hadn’t really thought about. I concede the point.

      • Ginger666@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Take a look at a Canon PIXMA TR150.

        There are plenty of other brands that make this same style, this was just the first I found.

        Now if only they had a small portable printer like that that did 11x17

        Reading blueprints off 8x11 is damn near impossible unless you blow them up