In an age when you don’t have much control over your computer (as companies like it have ensured), HP has a new proposition: Why not let HP rent one to you? The company today launched a subscription service called HP All-In Plan, as CEO Enrique Lores said last month. It’s essentially an extension of HP Instant Ink, and like that plan, you receive ink when you run out, but unlike it, your monthly fee also includes the printer itself.
The printer you get depends on the plan you choose. Pricing starts at $6.99 per month for 20 pages, regardless of the current HP Envy model, and goes up to $35.99 per month for OfficeJet Pro and 700 pages. If you exceed your page allotment, HP will add $1 for every 10-15 page block.
But each plan is a two-year lease, not a rent-to-own situation. So if you decide that the HP All-In simply isn’t for you, you’ll have to return the printer and work closely with someone else at FedEx again when you need to print. If you cancel after the initial 30-day trial period or two years ago, you’ll pay a fee of up to $270, depending on the plan and when you cancel.
Like HP’s recent ad campaign touting its printers as “made to be less annoying,” the idea behind this subscription is that printers are frustrating commodities. For example, the company’s configurator page mentions bonuses such as “continuous printer coverage” and “next business day printer replacement.” This way, if a firmware upgrade causes your printer to blue screen, at least you can take some remedial measures without having to drive to the store and buy a brand new printer.
This plan will undoubtedly appeal to some. Not everyone cares that much about the feeling of owning a printer. If you’re like me and ignore the “low ink” warnings until I run out completely and are actually printing something important other than coloring your pages, it’s great to receive ink before you run out. Child, once.
But that’s mostly because I don’t print often and rarely encounter the headaches of printer ownership. For those that do, there are two paths companies can take. One of these is HP’s program to address the frustrations of user-hostile experiences, such as scanners that don’t work because you bought third-party ink, and scanners that don’t work without serious effort because you moved overseas. Printers. Another approach is to build a printer that basically does just what you want it to do.
