In the past week HP has launched a new and interesting subscription service regarding its printers.
This interesting initiative includes the rental of a device, assigning each customer a specific amount of printable pages per month, sending the subscriber the ink useful for these needs. According to the company, this initiative aims to simplify paper printing for families and small businesses.
The prices, it seems, are affordable. We are talking about a basic subscription, which includes the rental of a printer HP Envy 6020e and the press of 20 pages per $6.99 per month. The most expensive plan among those provided, however, offers the rental of one HP OfficeJet Procon 700 pages printables for $35.99 monthly.
The company, backed by decades of experience in the sector, includes ink delivery and a full supportavailable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The contract stipulated, obviously, does not cover damage or malfunctions in the event of the use of consumables or products that are not from HP.
The dark side of HP rental printers: privacy and more
HP’s project also has some aspects that are raising controversy. Specifically, to rely on the subscription, users will have to keep your printers connected to the network: Otherwise, it will be impossible to use the peripherals.
The company itself, through the documentation linked to the subscription, makes it known that it could interrupt the service if the user tries to print even just one page with the device disconnected.
In this regard, it should also be considered that HP can monitor what the user is printing, the software he uses and many other data regarding the printing of documents. In short, something that could worry several people who are particularly attentive to the issue of privacy.
Despite some aspects that leave more than a doubt, printer rental appears to be a very interesting idea, which could have very interesting developments for consumers in the future.