Here's the disruption I'd like to see for printers - forget all that driver nonsense; network printers should have a webpage where you upload a PDF which (after proofing, if needed) it then prints.
Postscript would partially complement PDF support, but Postscript still needs the help of a driver to talk to the printer. (Where does /dev/lp0 itself come from? The port driver.)
Sure, but we're talking "open a TCP connection to a port, send Postscript" and some slight variations on that theme (HTTP POST, USB, ...). Nothing like the jungle of printer drivers we have now.
I really like this idea, but it doesn't seem like quite a full solution. I wouldn't want to convert <i>everything</i> I want to print to PDF and then upload it to a web form.
Given the ubiquity of print-to-PDF on OS X, where there's literally a PDF button on every print dialog; this doesn't seem like an onerous requirement. XPS support might be more appropriate for the mass market, now that all editions of Windows 7 include the XPS printer.
Honestly, I don't print often enough for that step to be annoying, but how about if the printer exports a network share with a watch folder that prints PDF files that get put there. The workflow then is print-to-PDF, but save it to the bookmarked watch folder, and... printing happens!
I love Bonjour for this simple reason. Throw a Bonjour enabled printer on the network, and every mac in the joint will find it, set the drivers and you off. Window can do, if Bonjour is installed.
But I think Win 7 does a fairly decent job of doing this (without Bonjour) too. I don't know about network printers too. I don't use Windows much on the network.
To underscore the point, I've found Windows drivers come in two flavors. Either OS-specific - meaning Windows XP, Vista 32-bit, Vista 64-bit, and Windows 7 (both 32 and 64 bit as well), along with OS X and Linux (cough they're both CUPS), which means I have to download the drivers 4 or 5 times; or a massive 300 megabyte (bandwith is cheap, but that's just a bit big) download, and OS X/Linux is usually a separate download anyway. I don't even remember what hacks I had to do to get the drivers for all the flavors of Windows drivers to so other people could use my print server.
It's so much nonsense that if someone needs to print something, most people find it easier to copy the file to my computer and print it from there, rather than setup my (networked, auto-driver installing) printer on their computer.
There's IPP, there's the printing part of CIFS, even plain old JetDirect (raw print data over a socket).
What's nonstandard is the ways of telling the hundreds of ink nozzles of various colors to produce a particular picture. There's of course PostScript, but it is only implemented in expensive printers.
Not so much that, but better integration with other devices and services.
Printer integration to automatically wake up and print documents when I need them, not when I remember to print. (boarding passes, etc).
Printers that can take half-size paper, and potentially auto-scale down documents to work with that half-size paper. I hate printing because 70% of the time I need about 5 things on the page, but they're all spread out, and an entire sheet of paper is a waste. Email/web/bookmarks helps out, but we could get by with smaller paper most of the time, except all printers expect larger size paper.
Better auto-discovery of local printers around me, and cloud integration to print things wherever I'm at.
Easier ways to print remotely. If I'm onsite at a client, I can't print something I need until I get home, but I may forget then. Letting me print remotely so it's ready when I get home would help, and/or the scheduling for future printing, either at a set time or set context (IE - at home).
"3D printing" that would allow me to use those awesome red/blue glasses to get the full 3D effect from my documents.
Relatedly, I'm not sure why companies aren't giving schools free paper with ads on the back. This would help school budgets, and give advertisers a captive audience.
Printer hardware and usability need some help, too. In my office, the printers (and fax machines and copiers) are always jamming or difficult to replace the ink or paper without referring to the manual.
The office printer room actually has a huge poster: "How to fax in 12 easy steps". Ironically, the process is so "easy" that the poster lists more than 12 steps.
Create a printer protocol that basically multicasts for a certain address, and it automatically prints to the closest address. That printer would respond back with it's name and location plus map, and you wouldn't have to play the 'find the closest printer' game. You could combine this with the generic SMB/NFS/HTTP file drop idea, and simplify the printing process.
The catch would be you would no longer choose a printer, but that can be looked at 2 ways. You can simply offer the option to choose through legacy methods, or you can make the assumption that it's easier to physically find the closest printer than it is to find the physically closest printer through logical means.
It would be disruptive enough if someone made a printer that just fucking worked. My parents have been through a series of all-in-ones over the past decade or so, all of which have crapped out and shipped with terrible driver software that causes kernel panics. I've been told you can't even buy a consumer printer with metal gears anymore, just cheap plastic gears that are liable to break in a paper jam.
The printer landscape out there is so dismal, I still haven't replaced my HP printer from the late 1990's. Even though it only prints black and magenta anymore, at least it still prints at all despite being more than a decade old. I won't be able to say that about any printer I buy today.
perhaps a flexible subscription I.E. I agree to buy 12 cartridges ... within 2 years; but can request up to that time when I need them.
- Although I think you need a price on the printer to weed out those who will default on the ink. Much like the square cost $10 at the Apple store; but is free online.
I second that. Scanners and faxes too. There has to be a better way then a box sitting in the corner of the office. Costing more keep it supplied with toner cartridges.
