Comment on HP wants you to pay up to $36/month to rent a printer that it monitors
BrikoX@lemmy.zip 8 months agoHP printers these days requires internet connection linked to your HP account to even work. Same principle as live service online video games.
D61@hexbear.net 8 months ago
Yeah, but if my printer is pretty much a computer that can have its OS/Applications updated, I’m surprised that hackers haven’t found a way to install software to make a printer be a printer instead of a “live service device”.
BrikoX@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
It’s not software issue, it’s hardware issue. They use a physical “security” chip that performs authentication.
Latest example of it: HP outrages printer users with firmware update suddenly bricking third-party ink
D61@hexbear.net 8 months ago
A chunk of the article makes it sound like, in some cases, it was just a software change that bricked the ink cart.
BrikoX@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Firmware, not software. It’s a layer in between software and hardware. You are probably familiar with a most commonly known firmware terms used in PCs, called BIOS or UEFI.