"If you need a signpost to the fact that the digital imaging revolution is slowing down, look no further than inkjet photo printers."
...
When a complete set of cartridges costs close to 50% of the original printer price the value proposition begins to fade of us mere mortals.
I'd love to own and buy a printer but...
1) I don't know which one is right for me
2) Because I wouldn't print frequently, I would waste lots of ink in cleaning runs (or so reviews lead me to believe)
3) printing something out is only half the problem - how do I mount a 4'x6' piece of paper at home? And which rag or whatever would I use?
4) the art of getting a print to look right with tone matching, gamuts, etc, for a quality print seems beyond the realms of average home users
So whilst I look on at printer reviews, I spend $$$ on getting professionals to print and mount my prints. Yes, this doesn't mean I print very often (a handful of times a year) but I give them a USB stick and get back something ready to hang on a wall. Some shops even let me spend 5 or 10 minutes with someone to calibrate/crop, etc. At others I often find mums coming in with USB sticks to get things printed.
All of which means if I owned a printer, it would be for..
1) happy family snaps
2) selfies
- i.e. things that I will share with people rather than art I want to hang and not needing/wanting to spend more than a couple of hundred $ on a printer.
And if there is a problem with printer sales then maybe the real issue is total cost of ownership and use doesn't add up for many people.
From my perspective, the sale of printers has nothing to do with the digital revolution but rather the box I can buy from Adorama or Amazon or B&H that plugs into the wall socket won't give me what I want when I plug it in to the computer. And there are countless web sites and services that will cater to the "small fry" prints for mounting that can be posted easily.