Printer Ink Costs More Than Human Blood

Ounce for ounce, printer ink can cost more than vintage champagne, more than insulin — by some measures, more than human blood. But this isn't really a video about why ink is expensive. It's about something stranger: the printer on your desk is registered to you, yet the company that built it never fully handed over control. This is the story of how the "razor-and-blades" model crept into printers and never left — and how a microchip, a flashing "low ink" warning, a hidden page counter and a single overnight firmware update quietly turned an ordinary office machine into a subscription you never signed up for. We trace HP's "Dynamic Security," the lawsuits it set off, the disaster-relief charity whose printer was disabled from afar, the settlement where ordinary customers received nothing — and what HP's own CEO said, on camera, at Davos: "We lose money on the hardware. We make money on the supplies." Every figure, court case and quote in this video is real. Sources are listed below. — CHAPTERS — 0:00 The most expensive liquid you'll ever buy 1:29 The razor-and-blades trap 2:29 Five ways your printer controls you 4:29 The firmware update that ended up in court 6:20 Who pays — and what's finally changing 7:17 What you actually bought — SOURCES & FURTHER READING — • HP CEO Enrique Lores on supplies and "subscription" printing — CNBC interview at the World Economic Forum (Davos), January 2024, reported by The Register: https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/1... • Ink cost-per-litre and "low ink" warning testing — Consumer Reports • HP "Dynamic Security" firmware and the resulting US class action — Mobile Emergency Housing Corp. et al. v. HP Inc., No. 5:20-cv-09157-SVK (N.D. Cal.); settlement reached August 2024, final court approval March 2025. HP's official settlement notice: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document... • HP Instant Ink subscription price increase (up to ~50%), effective January 2024: https://www.ghacks.net/2023/12/20/hp-... • HP segment revenue and operating margins (Printing vs Personal Systems) — HP Inc. quarterly results / US SEC filings: https://www.sec.gov • EU Right to Repair Directive (2024) — European Union • Antitrust class action over replacement-cartridge competition — filed January 2024, ongoing — ABOUT THIS VIDEO — This is an independent educational documentary about consumer technology and the economics behind it. It is not legal or financial advice. In the settlements discussed, HP admitted no wrongdoing. Figures are accurate to the best of our research at the time of publication. Short references and clips are used for commentary and criticism. ▶ Profitology — Who Actually Gets Your Money. We follow the money behind the things you buy every day. Subscribe so you don't miss the next investigation. #PrinterInk #RightToRepair #HP