Flashback: A Few years ago...
I was introduced to the wonderful world of printers and CIS (Continuous Ink Systems) at the 5th International Printer Expo in Shanghai. Started selling various printers before settling on Epson and Canon printers and then CIS Kits and Printer Inks by the bulk (now my current cash cow). So you ask... what is this CIS kits I'm talking about?... Well... In layman's terms... it basically means...
- CHEAPER INK
- NEVER HAVE TO GUESS AGAIN WHEN INK RUNS OUT
- GOODBYE TO CLOGGED PRINTER INSIDES (via an external waste tank)
While I admit that the quality of the ink is somewhat inferior to the originals. To the untrained eye there would be not much of a difference when it comes to print quality especially when printed on plain paper. To the masses... especially offices and establishments who require large amounts of printings... as long as it gets the job done they don't care about quality... they'll buy my ink instead of the originals which makes me and the customer happy (ironically... I also carry original inks and printers via a separate company)... just do the math... you'll buy a 10ml ink for Php1000+ or get one of my CIS kits and buy 100ml of ink for only Php280...
I am not gonna deny... the money was sooooooooooo good!... It enabled me to expand into other fields...
The printer companies "OBVIOUSLY" didn't like this so they've done countermeasures ranging from regularly releasing firmware updates rendering resetter chips in CIS kits useless... to going after the manufacturers of chipsets and CIS kits to "ACTUALLY" blacklisting wholesalers and retailers caught involved in selling and distribution of CIS kits and other related devices (I know... since I happen to be one of those unfortunate ones...)
Fast forward today:
So I got my name off the blacklist and now once again engaged in distribution of "EHEM" original printers while I still engage in large scale importation of printer inks, CIS kits and chipsets via a... separate company under a false front with a dummy owner with me pulling the strings behind the scenes
And so life continues... until mid last year when these damn printers were initially unveiled... I was like LOLWUT!?... I cannot believe what I saw first... I mean just a few years ago it was a widely circulated joke in the industry that if we continue to pressure the greedy printer companies much more they might even make their own CIS kits compatible with their printers... and then comes THIS original printer from EPSON which HAS an INTEGRATED CIS KIT... the capillary tubes are so well encased and tucked inside that it made me go "Why the hell nobody thought of that?" Nearly half of potential problems that can come from CIS kits comes from these capillary tubes ranging from air bubbles inside to bent or punctured tubes... and here comes EPSON now showing US how to do a proper CIS kit...
OK so they now have a CIS kit... what's the problem?... You can refill it using your ink right... well uh... not quite... you see... while this printer still uses standard Epson ink (chemically similar but for some odd reason it is less expensive)... you'll actually have to buy a specially marked bottle with a unique serial number and for every time the printer nags you to get it refilled and made the prompt action to get it refilled you will uh... have to register it to the DAMN printer using the unique serial number that comes with the bottle...
So there you have it... while EPSON may be the only major player who have done this sort of thing... as a businessman... I know, this is the beginning of the end for my lucrative venture into printer inks... and even if someone did managed to crack and bypass that verification process chances are people will now prefer the original ink since the price difference is not much. Even worse... if this little experiment of EPSON proved successful... chances are, other big players will get into the act and do the same. This is a big WIN for the consumer who is somewhat used to getting ripped-off by big name printer companies into buying low mileage high cost printer cartridges...
As for me... things get even worse especially the first night when the first batch arrived and stored in my warehouse... I cannot sleep very well knowing I have to think really hard and plan really far and really careful into the future on what shall I do next... to you this might just be a revolutionary printer but for me this is a matter of survival... not just me but also the hardworking employees I have who themselves have people depending on them... the people who buy resetter chips and supplies... the pressure is ridiculous and I deal with it everyday...
So why am I saying this here instead of some related forum... well, you see here I am UNCLE MUGEN... the most AWESOME UNCLE LOVED by all CHILDREN... here, I can breathe and relieve stress of everyday life and simply be as goofy as I can without side effects... (Admit it people... I know I'm not the only one here who uses Lemmasoft to escape reality a bit) and who knows... maybe I can provide some informative uh... stuff... I dunno...
So uh if this thread is not in line with the current policies of this forum please feel free to delete this post...
"POOF"
(So... anyone wanted something off their chest?... You can post in this thread if you want...)