HP wants you to print things through its cloud service, wherein you pay a subscription fee for ink and your usage is routed through its servers. To encourage you to do this, it covers the USB port …
A gentle reminder to those coming in to complain about their prior printers: In some areas, libraries have a computer area where you can print out a reasonable number of pages. It’s not totally convenient, but generally a far better option than maintaining your own cartridge-muncher.
I don’t have a printer at home, and I’ve been just fine. Nowadays you don’t even need to print tickets, so who cares about a printer any more. You get them in your email, and all you need to do is show the QR code off your phone when you show up at the event, enter the theater, board the plane or whatever.
I’m the same way, which then puts me in a tizzy when I actually do need a printer: For instance, needing to print a notice to other apartment residents near me (eg, “Do not move this item, it is a trap for rodents!”), or needing to print shipping labels to send in an item for return/repair.
