There's a very rough rule of thumb that the less you pay for a computer printer, the more you will pay for inks: well, the manufacturers have to get their money one way or another. The trend over the past decade or so has been towards cheaper and less functional printers and more expensive inks, but Kodak is going to try it the other way with photo printers.
"Kodak's ink will sell for about $25 when the printers hit stores in March. That's far less than the $60 to $80 it typically costs for replacement ink for photo printers," according to USA Today.
Accordng to Kodak marketing director Bob Ohlweiler, the company will put more ink in its cheaper cartridges and still make money. However: "Kodak's first two printers initially will be sold exclusively at Best Buy and Kodak.com, for $149 to $199."
The story doesn't say if (a) the cartridges will be transparent; (b) you can buy colours separately; and (c) they are not "chipped" -- all features worth seeking out.
The story has an interesting sidebar on inkjet printer market shares, according to IDC. The numbers are Hewlett-Packard 41%; Epson 18%; Canon 17%; Lexmark 13%; Dell 6%.
