I have occasion to actually need to print something about twice a year. I don't know how it is that we live such drastically different lifestyles that you find them so incredibly useful.
I print once or twice a month--return labels, random home admin (taxes or city stuff), and I prefer paper boarding passes (w/ backup on my phone) because they're less fussy for a number of reasons than the phone. I also print documents that I need to carefully read or edit, because I am easily distracted when reading/editing boring stuff on a computer and can waste too much time writing about using printers on HN.
I typically also only print 2-3 times a year as well. But those times are sensitive-ish documents (one being hard copies of my tax prep and return for my filing cabinet, even though it’s submitted electronically) and I don’t want them printed on a printer I don’t own (paranoia). (And my printer is not connected to the network, I connect via USB).
> one being hard copies of my tax prep and return for my filing cabinet
...what year is this? Like, I have some questions:
1) Why keep hard copies of documents created electronically when there are so many more redundant, more secure, and more convenient ways keep the electronic versions themselves?
2) What in God's name are you putting on your tax forms that warrants being that paranoid about who sees them?
> 2) What in God's name are you putting on your tax forms that warrants being that paranoid about who sees them?
Well, it includes social-security numbers for starters, and may also include bank account routing information (where to send the refund check, or withdraw in case of extra payment needed).
1) It's been more than once that we've seen hackers completely wipe people's digital lives? I mean, how problematic will logging in to many of these services be if Google decides to lock your account?
2) As an American example, ask Trump, he really doesn't want to release that information for one reason or another. Simply put trying to figure out other peoples security and sensitivity sensibilities is not something you have all the details on and are making vast assumptions.
> It's been more than once that we've seen hackers completely wipe people's digital lives? I mean, how problematic will logging in to many of these services be if Google decides to lock your account?
There are still much more convenient and technically superior methods than using physical paper copies if that is your concern.
> ask Trump, he really doesn't want to release that information for one reason or another.
Using "unscrupulous, if not criminal, activity" as an example in this instance doesn't seem like the best argument.
Technically superior is a very biased argument... A safe with a key is a very well established security mechanism with a pretty easily traceable chain of custody. Someone has to physically be at the location of the files to get the files.
Any digital record has a huge number of failure modes. For security you'll want to encrypt, when encrypted you'll now have another piece of data you need to secure and backup. You have to ensure the backup services are secure. If any of these become insecure how do you trace the insecure accesses? If it was accessed from overseas what do you do about it?
Criminal activity is common, but lets go with something that would be criminal in one country and not in another... This gets very messy with cloud services where some other government can request the information. With a safe you have to get the local government to sign off on a warrant.
Honestly, printers have gotten so cheap that the pain in the ass they can save when needed would make them useful to have for even that low of a volume. Printing a return label means I don't have to drive to a shipper. Your cheapest printers nowadays can scan and sometimes fax, which is useful for when legal or other requirements force you to submit a signed document. I'm not a fan of digital tickets for travel and events due to the apps being garbage and the severe consequences in case of technical problems, so these are easily printed as well.
As crappy as modern printers are, they provide an oversized amount of peace of mind for me.
None of those are significant problems in my life I guess, certainly not enough to justify even dedicating any space to a piece of electronic equipment that I will use infrequently enough to be frustrated by whatever way it has decided to not work when I do want to use it.
