So This is How the Internet of Things Works

            This week my digital printer notified the office systems administrator by email that it needed a replacement ink cartridge.  How very helpful and timely you might think, but there’s more to the story.

            My printer did not really need ink.  It simply reached a specified number of page prints, after which it stopped working!  Full stop.  Not coaxing it to handle a few more pages after a couple of cartridge shakes.

            The printer manufacturer has a software, middleware, or firmware default for stopping printing after reaching a page threshold. There is a way to override the default, but one needs to issue that instruction at the printer’s specific Internet Protocol address which may not be common knowledge.

            How clever of the printer company to exploit the Internet of Things to expedite the replacement of ink cartridge that might have hundreds of pages left.  Clever and greedy I’d say.