• Zak@lemmy.world
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    7 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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      7 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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        7 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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          7 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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        7 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.

        • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

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

          • Zak@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            If the people responsible for whatever paper trail requirement there is in Dojan’s company or legal jurisdiction haven’t figured out some time in the past quarter century that this internet thing isn’t a passing fad, and started using digital communications and recordkeeping in a way that offsets its own cost in a relatively short period of time, the person or organization responsible for that decision is bad at computers.

        • Dojan@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

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

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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      7 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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        7 months ago

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

      • Ginger666@lemmy.world
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        7 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

    • oatscoop@midwest.social
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      7 months ago

      the only good reason to own a printer is photo/art prints

      … how do you read your emails without a printer?