BRENDAN M. REDMOND,
Sir, - Kevin Myers (Irishman's Diary, January 17th) wrote about the high cost of ink cartridges for computer printers. It is generally believed that printers are sold at a little more than cost and that exorbitant profits are made by the sale of ink cartridges. The strategy here is that once you have a printer you have to have an ink cartridge, no matter how high the cost.
I heard an interesting story on this subject from a friend in the ink industry who took a call from an irate customer who wanted to buy a replacement cartridge for his computer. When told he was on to the wrong company a general discussion took place on the high cost of cartridges. The caller said that, on one occasion, he prised the top off a cartridge and filled it with ordinary fountain pen ink. He resealed the top with Super Glue and the cartridge performed in the normal way.
I cannot confirm the veracity of this story but if it is true, surely it is incumbent on cartridge manufacturers to make them re-usable at a fraction of the cost of a new one. Kevin Myers was correct in comparing the cartridge to the ordinary bottle of ink. So why the high cost? - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN M. REDMOND,
Terenure,
Dublin 6w.