Subscription: The new corporate trick

HP sells cheap printers and computers and has long found a way to make up for the low price of its printers by selling ink at exorbitant prices. 

Now, HP wants to hook its users even more by having them subscribe to its ink refill plan. This will create even more dependency, but to work, it relies on its poor WiFi connection protocol between the printers it sells and its users’ computer, tablet or phone. 

After spending far too much of my very precious time in unsuccessfully trying to make their damned wireless work, I opted for a good old cable connection between the printer and my devices, making in the process unusable the “HP Instant Ink Service” it so desperately wanted to sell me. 

Since that time, I’ve been harassed to make my WiFi work so I can take advantage of HP’s addictive service that can only work with a viable wireless connection that the company is not able to guarantee.

So this past Wednesday, I spent another 20 minutes of my precious time with its “nearby” Philippines’ office begging a polite agent to do just that: Leave me alone. He said HP would. 

We’ll see!