Life takes you to unexpected places, the need to print brings you home.

The unconnected problem series, Story 1 — Internet of Printers

Imagine being able to directly secure print a document or a photo or a physical gift card on a printer which you don’t own (while away from home), by just connecting to the nearest publicly accessible printer.

However this relatively simple need could be hard to realize.

How do I print it ? Photo by Patrick on Unsplash

You may argue, why do I need any printed stuff in this digital world. It’s definitely a fact that digitization has almost eliminated the need for printing documents like ID proofs, photos, books etc.

Additionally owning a printer at home could help mitigate this need to a certain extent , however it comes with it’s own set of problems —

• Using “razor-and-blades” business model, printer companies sell printers at a loss and make up for it in ink sales. The printer companies don’t make any money on their printers. They make it on the very-expensive ink. Hence operating expenses of the printer ink over a short period of time can often be more expensive than the printer itself.
• Printer companies do whatever they can to crush any competition from a more economical and sustainable third-party options by frequently updating the firmware in the cartridges. Printer companies use software to lock users out of cheaper ink.
• Printer system software, working with printer networking ( connecting to your Wi-fi ) is complex to understand and often unreliable due to lack of resources dedicated to improve the overall customer experience. This prevents to sustain an automated option like printer as a service i.e. sharing a common printer and offering automated printing as a service.

To understand this problem in detail, let’s look at below scenarios —

Need to submit physical documents or photographs

Submitting physical application with proofs Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash

While interacting with some government departments there may still be a need to submit physical document proofs, photographs, applications etc. Some departments may still not be fully digitized and may mandate physical signature and applications. I have faced multiple such scenarios while away from my home, when I urgently needed to submit printed copies of government IDs , online application forms, photos etc. In most cases I end up missing the appointment or rescheduling the visit due to lack of printed copies.

Presenting physical gift cards

When I meet my friends or relatives on special occasions or events, I’d like to gift something which is useful to them. However choosing the right gift is very tricky, so it’s best to let them choose the gift. At the same time, I feel it’s rude to gift someone cash. I find gift cards a more elegant way of wishing someone when meeting face-to-face.

Amazon physical gift card — Immediate access is still a problem

Popular e-commerce platforms like Amazon allows us to choose from a wide range of options and I feel confident that such a gift will be useful. In most cases I do plan such meetings or visits , hence I able to purchase such gift cards well in advance.

But sometimes I end up in situations where I need such gift cards with only few hours or a day left ( late realization that I need to gift something on the occasion). From digitization perspective Amazon does offer e-gift cards, which makes it easy to purchase the gift cards online. But when meeting someone face-to-face, I feel its much better to gift something tangible like a well designed printed gift card. In most cases I end up doing last minute shopping and end up buying gifts which I am not sure will be useful.

Reading a printed book or a document

Reading to relax, Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

A recent neuroscience research suggests our brain is better at absorbing content from the print . This research has proven that print content is 21% easier to understand and more memorable with 70% higher recall than digital media. This means that there will always be scenarios where some readers will prefer to read some content using the printed medium.

In some situations like commuting, I prefer reading printed books than on digital medium. Sometimes I feel relaxed reading printed books. Planning to carry printed books from the library is one option, but imagine if you had an option to print any chapter of your e-book anywhere for ease of reading while travelling.

Direct secure printing as a service by Internet Of Printers

Today the problem still remains as an unconnected dot in an increasingly connected world.

Could we sustain 3D printing on-demand ? Photo by Tom Claes on Unsplash

Thinking of the above problems, I was imagining a possible solution. Assume in near future if improved networking system software in printers sustains a formation of an internet of printers, it could now offer a direct secure printing as a service. I could print anything printable anywhere from the nearest accessible public printer via secure printing option. While away from home online maps could additionally help locate where I can securely print my personal documents, photos, gift cards, chapters of my e-books ( may be in a distant future everyday objects with 3D printing) etc.