In rare move from printing industry, HP actually has a decent idea

The printer trade is in a rut.

With the digitization of, effectively, practically all the pieces, individuals simply don’t print like they used to. Extra fashionable methods of storing and sharing data, adjustments in communication preferences at residence and in workplaces, and environmental considerations have stonewalled the printing trade and challenged stakeholders like HP.

I’d argue that it’s not simply technological, financial, and societal adjustments which have diminished printer companies. For the common particular person, printers and their capabilities have grow to be boring. When’s the final time you’ve heard of a brand new killer printer function?

HP has obtained a whole lot of guff for alleged anti-consumer practices in its printer enterprise, turning many individuals off the units. However HP’s newest print announcement is a uncommon instance of a printer agency proposing new, probably useful options as a substitute of questionable enterprise ways to drive enterprise.

Printers want a rebrand

Frequent readers of Ars Technica (together with myself) could also be stunned to see me praising a printer firm, particularly HP. In recent times, HP has been a giant driver of damaged belief between printer manufacturers and clients.

Its most egregious offense has been utilizing firmware updates to make it so beforehand bought printers now not work with non-HP ink. HP has handled quite a few lawsuits over this and has paid out hundreds of thousands in fines and buyer compensation. Activists have known as for HP printers to be faraway from the Digital Product Environmental Evaluation Instrument registry due to HP’s Dynamic Safety updates.

However HP continues to face by Dynamic Safety, with CEO Enrique Lores even going as far as to unrealistically declare that third-party ink poses a cybersecurity menace. Updates that brick options of units that individuals depend on for valued, and even work-critical, duties can wreck somebody’s day. It could actually additionally make individuals distrustful of updates, creating extra urgent safety considerations than that of non-proprietary ink cartridges. Additional, HP and different printer firms (like Canon) have additionally been rightfully criticized for making combo printer-scanner units require ink to carry out scans, one thing that must be an inkless activity.

It has gotten to the purpose the place, in 2024, my greatest suggestion for individuals searching for a printer is a boring, black-and-white Brother laser printer from 2017 or to go to their native library.

Characteristic being examined may really enhance printing

So colour me impressed to listen to HP asserting a function for printer customers with the potential for simply and instantly bettering clients’ printing expertise. The function is presently solely accessible to pick out clients as a beta software program driver. However Good Output, as HP’s calling it, may very well be a useful gizmo for simplifying and rushing up sure kinds of print jobs, particularly for tech novices.

Good Output is the primary in a class of printer options that HP will name HP Print AI. Sure, it is a part of the AI advertising hype presently overwhelming tech customers (do not shoot the messenger!). In keeping with HP’s Tuesday announcement, Good Output is meant to make it simpler to print issues off of net browsers (like articles, journey paperwork, and tutorials) and spreadsheets in a cleaner, extra natural-looking means.

One may use Good Output to rapidly repair picture sizes and take away advertisements and white house when printing one thing off a web site, HP says for example.

And it must be simpler to print spreadsheets that don’t reduce throughout a number of pages, like within the picture under, in response to HP.