Many of you may remember the lawsuit Lexmark lost in their attempt to invoke the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The crux of the matter was that anyone who could crack the code that Lex built in to their printers and toner cartridges was safe from prosecution under the DMCA. However, Lexmark continued their efforts to monopolize the supplies (and parts) business and further developed electronics-based code to restrict use of toners in their laser printers. That is, it has so far been successful in keeping any competitors out of the lucrative toner cartridge business for their latest family of printers.
Usually by this time in the product cycle one expects to see an after-market for re-manufactured toner cartridges emerge. An in-depth search provided no alternatives to new OEM toners for Lexmark lasers or their other vendors (Infoprint, Dell, etc.) for their latest line of workgroup printers.
Additionally, Lexmark has further upped the ante by making the aftermarket in spare parts more difficult. Once you install one of a few key parts in a printer, it can no longer be used elsewhere, effectively making Lexmark the sole source for several key parts.
My prediction? The prior model family (T64x stuff) will become more attractive as the toner cartridges don't cost over $400.
Also you may notice that the current IBM/Ricoh/Infoprint line (in addition to Lexmark's lines) offers no Coax/Twinax option;; Another reason to stick with the T64x family.
—
Infoprint has been a source of some frustration and upset customers lately. It seems that the transition from IBM''s database systems to Ricoh's systems (Oracle) is a lot more difficult and time consuming than expected. (Since when are any of these transitions fast?) I tried to order a service part only to find out, after several attempts, that they CANNOT TAKE ORDERS. I can understand black-out dates while new systems are brought on line, but no one seems to know when business will resume. I've had some gear on order for three weeks now. No telling when it will show up.
—
On another note, it seems that the manufacturer of the line of printers sold by TallyGenicom (Dascom) is coming to the US market. Details on what they will carry and support are still forthcoming, but it does offer some reprieve for those firms looking to support and extend their TallyGenicom/DEC infrastructure. Printronix, who bought TallyGenicom's assets seems uninterested in pursuit of the serial matrix printers, and instead is focusing on the line-printer market.
Speaking of Printronix (PTX), there was a couple rounds of price increases over the past year or so, but clearly that leaves me to wonder how PTX will handle its monopoly in its market. Clearly there is an incentive to raise prices now that they are the only high end impact printer company left.
—
A giraffe walks into a bar and says "The highballs are on me".
davidmendelson 