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Why are Ink Cartridges Still SO Expensive?

By Bes Zain in Life 5 Comments


Printers. We still have them.

Even though we all try to go paperless, we still get some new paper thrown into our life every week. Bills, reminders, legal notices, checks, ads, and more.

We also keep printing paper. Tons of businesses still want you to fax them stuff. People still want you to print that PDF file and sign it, then scan it and email it back, or mail it in.

That new apartment or house you want to buy or rent? It’s going to require you signing on paper.

Online sites like Amazon and Tinta offer cheaper ink cartridges, resulting in more people going to the alternate shops to get their refills instead of the official stores. Such sites make owning printers an affordable experience.

With 2012 in full motion, you would imagine that the prices of supposedly dying trends would decrease in order to drive up interest and usage.

You and I would be mistaken in thinking that.

Looking at the actual printer manufacturers, I can see that the ink cartridge price seems to be actually going up, or at least not decreasing.

Every store that sells printers has discounts on those printers, online and offline. Almost none of those official manufacturers have discounts on ink cartridges, though.

Why is that?

Why are the official printer manufacturers like Epson, Brother, Canon, HP, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Lexmark, Dell and Xerox selling ink cartridges at such high prices?

Printer prices going down. Official Ink Cartridge Prices going up?

014/365How can a good cheap Lexmark printer cost $45 at BestBuy or Fry’s without discounts, yet the single black ink cartridge costs $23 and the single color ink cartridge costs $25 for that printer when bought directly from Lexmark? That comes out to be more than the price of the printer itself.

You have to go online or into a small store to find cheaper prices, or even cheaper alternatives. Online stores usually buy ink cartridges in bulk, and thus get better prices. They can then pass on the savings to the customers while competing with the ink cartridge companies.

One wonders what the printer companies are thinking. Ink is selling well, so anything they’re thinking is what they’re sticking with.

Is the philosophy “Sell cheap printer and charge a lot for the parts needed to run the printers?” still applicable in today’s world where paper usage is said to be decreasing very fast?

Or is the new philosophy “Charge as much as possible since the era or printouts is fading away!” the new business model adopted by the printer manufacturers?

Either way, the printer companies are not reducing their ink cartridge prices.

This is not a new question. In fact, I’m sure everyone else also goes “Ink cartridge is dead again?” whenever it needs replacing.

A Decade Old Ink Cartridge Pricing Question

PC World once asked the question “Why Do Ink Cartridges Cost So Much?” – back in 2003.

It’s 2012, and official ink cartridge prices have not come down at all. ”Unless you’re buying your ink from a non-official manufacturer, you’re going to be paying more money than the printer itself.

What do you think? Is your printer’s ink cartridge ready to be replaced?

5 Comments on Why are Ink Cartridges Still SO Expensive?

5 Ways People Treat Darkness Differently in a Power Outage

By Bes Zain in Life 6 Comments


Growing up, our cities had many power outages every year. Traveling around the world as a child, I experienced even more blackouts, some which lasted several days.

It was always an awesome experience until you were sweating or freezing because of not being able to use the air conditioner or the heater. It was also very adventurous getting ready or doing things around the house. Not being able to watch TV, for the few hours that I did back then on a daily basis because someone else was watching it, resulted in the balcony being visited a lot.

We had a major power outage (blackout) last night, which lasted for hours. These days, power outages are treated with the “WTH! Power outage in 2012? WHAT IS THIS? I’M GOING TO COMPLAIN!” by people, more than “Power’s out again!” that we used to.

At first, it was very interesting to experience the total darkness which we rarely experience anymore. I’m up at nights most of the time already, and I usually (maybe always) like the lights turned off. The light from the monitor lights up the area around me every night.

A power outage was a very beautiful experience, with the monitor light being taken out of the picture also.

Having actual total darkness, with no other option than to have a candle or use a flashlight, is awesome in my view.

Soon, though, I realized that we, the humans, act very differently when electricity is taken away from us.

We rely on electricity so much that we start acting like souls who have never been in the areas where we live. I wrote about 5 things I learned in the blackout on my phone excitedly, and wanted to share it with my The Reasoner readers too.

5 Ways People Act Differently in a Power Outage

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6 Comments on 5 Ways People Treat Darkness Differently in a Power Outage

Will We All Die in 2012?

By Bes Zain in Life 24 Comments


Is 2012 the year all of humanity will die?

More and more people talk about the world ending in 2012 like it’s a taboo fad, merely bringing up the topic without actually stating their final opinion on the matter. Maybe most people are still thinking. Maybe most people are reluctant to be labeled as part of the Doomsday cult.

We’re all still alive, dying only of regular deaths. We will all die, no doubt about it. What makes death interesting is a catastrophic event, which none of us alive or in our recent centuries haven’t seen at all.

The talk of death or suicide bores or scares majority of the people. But the talk of a big catastrophic even which is not under our control at all excites people.

People want to talk about it or think about it, but not too much.

It’s like everyone wants to be part of the cool thought that something may happen just because it sounds cool, while not talking about it publicly since the cool groups of humanity, which is the majority, doesn’t talk about such things openly for the fear of being labeled weird.

Regardless of the labels or what others thing, what do YOU think? It’s time to share.

Harold Camping – The Rapture

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24 Comments on Will We All Die in 2012?

Taking Action is More Important than Having Passion

By Bes Zain in Life 17 Comments


I was recently interviewed by Ashley Barron.

The interview was a great way to share what I think about the different topics of blogging, monetizing online and focusing on getting things done.

That interview also indirectly resulted in this very article.

One of the things I said in the interview revolved around the concept of being passionate about blogging and other things in life. I am passionate about many things, and I day/night/constantly dream like crazy.

Thoughts about different things, including thoughts about being passionate about different things and actually having the feelings that I’m passionate about different things, are everywhere in my life.

I said in the interview “For me, passion is less important than focus.” That is one of my most important realizations in life.

Thinking may be the most important thing in my life. However, I need to do more than just think.

Focusing on the action on what to do with the passion, taking action, planning out the next steps, and anything else to do more than just having a passion helps much more than simply having passion.

Recently, Jeff Ashcroft read my interview via Twitter and responded to it, saying that passion is everything. Here is what Jeff tweeted, and what I replied with:

It was an awesome tweet by Jeff. It’s true too: Passion results in a lot of important ideas, dreams, and hope. I dream all the time, and I have passion for different things almost every hour of the day.

However, passion to me is less important than focus for one sole reason: passion is simply an idea, or a feeling.

Passion and other thoughts are great, though if one doesn’t focus on the passion practically, it’s useless. (more…)

17 Comments on Taking Action is More Important than Having Passion

2012 New Year Resolutions – What are Yours?

By Bes Zain in Life 41 Comments


2012. Today marks the day when so many of us will start hoping for an awesome 2012, compared to 2011 at least. We have new plans, new goals, new dreams and new wants. For me, New Year Resolutions are simply a way to start acting on things in life on a certain date. This is like a push: giving yourself and thinking of a specific date, today, to start doing things.

Our needs may remain the same, though our wants are changing. A few years ago I wrote on how setting achievable goals was not as useful as we usually think. It seems setting New Year goals offer no help unless the goals we’re setting focus on our entire life, and not just 365 days of our life limited by a calendar year name.

Here are my 2012 plans that I’m working on to create an impact on my life that will last forever. The focus is on simplifying the complexity I’m adding to my life, and the complexity that is my life.

For My 2012 New Year Resolutions, I’m Going to…..

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41 Comments on 2012 New Year Resolutions – What are Yours?

IS SHE REALLY GOING OUT WITH HIM?!

By Lilly Nelson in featured, Life 18 Comments


Is she really going out with him is a great song, but how often do you hear the same lament? “Everyone I like only likes jerks.” “I’m smart and funny. Why doesn’t anyone want to be with me?” “Why is she with him?” How often have you heard or said that yourself?

The world of dating has changed significantly from your Mom and Dad’s apple pie Norman Rockwell scene. No longer do people regularly go steady through High School to marry their sweetheart after college. In fact the average person gets married at 26, followed two years later by a divorce. With the plight of older women and men fighting to meet Mr or Miss Right before biology takes over, there is an increasing amount of pressure on the single today.

With that in mind, let’s broach the subject of those folks who are nice and perpetually single. You know the type. That sweet friend of yours who seems to always be single no matter how desirable they may be. That nice guy who brings flowers to a first date and opens all doors. That sweet funny girl who lost her most recent boyfriend. We love them, but only as friends, and we want to see them happy. Or maybe that sweet funny person is you.

The “Nice Guy”

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18 Comments on IS SHE REALLY GOING OUT WITH HIM?!

Stop Hiding from People if you Want Happiness

By Bes Zain in featured, Life 31 Comments


Stop hiding from people if you want a happier life and if you want happiness.

There is no other way to emphasize something as important as this without stating it directly. Regardless of your goals, wants or needs, this one major negative element in your life will ultimately affect everything else in your life negatively.

In fact, this major element of hiding from people in your life, is what affects your daily life, all your actions, and your future.

We prefer hiding from people. We do it daily. We accept it as being so normal that we do not even think about its existence. We just react to it as if we had a life dedicated to hiding from others. This fear that makes us hide from others, for any reason, is actually making us fail at almost every great opportunity that comes our way. For every person we claim we like hanging out with, there are probably 2 people out there we hide from.

Phone, emails, txts, in person, on the road, online, people around us, etc: we like hiding for various reasons wherever we are. We hide from bill collectors, people who honk at us, people we find annoying, people who forward us annoying emails, other students who may make fun of us, kids who may bully us at parties, and many other groups of people. When we hide from others, everything we do in life revolves around the fact that we’re afraid. How can our life be productive, minimalistic, or even happy when it is based around fear?

Such fear ensures that all your goals, dreams and efforts in life are always inferior to what they could be.

While we may not be able to control the outcome of an uncomfortable situation, we can definitely change the way we react to people related to the situations in question.

Chill. Relax.

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31 Comments on Stop Hiding from People if you Want Happiness

How many Real Offline Friends do You Really Have?

By Bes Zain in featured, Life 45 Comments


Everyone has online friends. Or almost everyone. These days the craze is over at Google+. You or at least one of your online “friends” is searching for a Google+ invite this very moment. Or they are already on Google+ adding others right now. Regardless, the craze is to find a good new social network and to start adding people. It seems the more people you have on your “friends” list online, the more popular or important you seem online, even if you never, ever interact with your online “friends” from your “friends” list.

This trend started from MySpace and Xanga probably, or even before, carried onto Twitter and Facebook, and now it lives in Google+ also. It will keep on going, since people want more “friends” online. As long as having “friends” makes you more popular than having no audience online, you will want more “friends.” (more…)

45 Comments on How many Real Offline Friends do You Really Have?

Should You ALWAYS Tip Waiters?

By Bes Zain in featured, Life 69 Comments


I can say with 100% certainty that you ate something in the last 24 hours. Unless you’re starving somewhere, chances are you eat 2 or 3 times a day. We cook at home and we go out to eat. Going to a restaurant to eat, while fulfilling our craving to survive, is like an enjoyable experience for us, like a joy ride. And in that joy ride, surprisingly, we usually have come to pay more attention to the people who bring the food than the food itself.

If you get a happy, polite waiter, you will most probably consider your dining experience a good one. Get an impolite waiter or someone who ignores you, and you may consider your trip a waste of time and money, even if the food was good. Not only that, but at the end of every such experience, you come face to face with the bill that creates the most difficult question for you.

“How much should I leave as a tip for this waiter?” (more…)

69 Comments on Should You ALWAYS Tip Waiters?

Why Do [or Don't] You Celebrate 4th of July?

By Bes Zain in featured, Life 17 Comments


4th of July is USA’s Independence Day, when America called and considered itself a free nation. It probably can’t get much simpler than that in terms of the definition. Celebrating Independence Day is now a tradition where people in America [or other countries for their Independence Day] get together for parties, food barbecue or for fireworks to mark the anniversary of becoming a separate country. For millions of people, it is as important or sometimes even more important than any religious event.

Today, millions of people in America will either be setting off fireworks themselves or watching others do it. It’s a trend that many call “a family tradition.” This trend is so popular that many people define their “patriotism” by it. For such people, you’re not an American if you don’t celebrate Independence Day. At the same time, there is a growing number of people who do not celebrate Independence Day. They have their own reasons, also listed below.

To get a solid idea of why you celebrate or don’t celebrate Independence Day, let’s go through 5 reasons why others do and don’t celebrate it.

5 Famous Reasons We Celebrate 4th of July

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17 Comments on Why Do [or Don't] You Celebrate 4th of July?
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