{"id":12251,"date":"2022-08-12T14:41:01","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T14:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/12\/bricked-epson-printers-make-a-strong-case-for-user-repairability\/"},"modified":"2022-08-12T14:41:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T14:41:02","slug":"bricked-epson-printers-make-a-strong-case-for-user-repairability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/12\/bricked-epson-printers-make-a-strong-case-for-user-repairability\/","title":{"rendered":"Bricked Epson printers make a strong case for user repairability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/11\/23301272\/epson-ink-pad-right-to-repair<\/a>
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Epson gained some scrutiny on Twitter in recent weeks after the company disabled a printer that was otherwise working fine, leading to accusations of planned obsolescence. Epson knows its printers will stop working without simple maintenance at a predictable point in the future, and it knows that it won\u2019t be cost-effective for many owners to send their home printers in for service. So why not build them to be user serviceable in the first place?<\/p>\n

The inciting post from @marktavern<\/a> mentions that his wife was unable to use her \u201cvery expensive Epson printer\u201d after an end-of-service error message appeared.<\/p>\n

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My wife\u2019s very expensive @EpsonAmerica<\/a> printer just gave a message saying it had reached the end of its service life and proceeded to brick itself. Apparently she can pay to service it or buy a new one even though it was working fine. Outrageous!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Tavern (@marktavern) July 22, 2022<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

This isn\u2019t anything new for Epson printers, sadly. Reports going back several years mention an infamous error message that reads \u201cparts inside the printer have reached the end of their service life.\u201d Epson confirmed to The Verge <\/em>that the error is related to the printer\u2019s ink pads, which had likely become saturated through extended use and were now at risk of spilling into the rest of the printer mechanism.<\/p>\n

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