In a world of having to get the latest and greatest electronic gadgets, one such gadget has failed to get the attention that iPads, iPhones, digital cameras, computers, and video cameras have received. It’s none other that the printer.

Huh? Take a minute and think about it. How often do we run out to buy the latest version of a new piece of technology, even though the one we have is still working just fine? You iPhone 3 worked perfectly, but you had to get the iPhone 4 because of its cool new features. There are not many of us that do this with our printers. Why not? Printer manufacturers are constantly releasing printers with more features than the previous generation had. I don’t hear many stories of folks dumping their printer to run out and get one that is Internet enabled and scans at a higher resolution. Why not? Here’s why not, because printers are a pain in the butt. The guys from the 1999 movie “Office Space” hit the nail on the head (or the printer with the bat) when they did what a lot of us feel like doing to our printer.

So what’s the deal? Why does something so central to our every day life get so little respect?

Printers are frustrating. They jam, run out of ink, frequently drop their connection to your computer, melt stickers and labels, and cause the edges of your pages to wrinkle and bend.

Ask the printer manufacturers and they are quick to say that the problem is not really the printer. It is the people using the printer. They blame rough handling, mistreatment, and improper maintenance for the problems. They also say people are far more likely to try to fix a printer problem by themselves than they are to try to fix any other type of technology. Because they don’t know what they are doing they can cause further damage.

No way! How can you mistreat and be to rough on a piece of machinery that once placed really does not get moved again. They only time the printer really gets touched is when paper needs to be replaced or you are fixing an issue that came about from out of the blue. Cameras, phones, and computers get a lot more “abuse”. They stand up to the wear and tear. Of course we are going to try to fix our own printer problems. What do the manufacturer’s customer service representatives tell us to do when we call them about a problem? They want us to handle the printer. Are we just supposed to call the $90 per hour technician without trying? I’ve had a few that end up on the phone with the manufacturer. Yikes!

So what’s the real deal? Are printers designed to break? Are they the ultimate example of throw away electronics? HP has claimed that its inkjet printers failed 25% less in 2009 than in 2006, and that laser printers have improved by 20%. Unfortunately, they won’t say how often these machines are still a source of troubles. Lexmark fields about 10,000 electronic feedback forms per month, but won’t say now many of these focus on printer problems. My guess i a pretty large number. Lexmark does not do much else in the way of electronics.

Why do we put up with printers? We can buy them for less than $100.00, but then continually have to feed them printer ink and paper. If your $100 printer breaks, you are easily going to spend what you paid for it in repair costs. Given these expenses, its no wonder we just head to the store an buy a new one at the first sign of any problem.

Do you think your printer was made to be thrown away. Let me know. Thanks!