This really makes me sad. 

A couple of months ago we were in touch with a Fulham business.  They were having a really hard time and they were selling their stuff off cheaply as they contracted.  Desks, chairs and all that.  As a result of their smart moves to cut costs they are now in good shape – obvious Greece analogy goes here.

BUT THAT’S NOT THE SAD BIT

No, the sad bit is that we bought some stuff – a couple of desks and a colour OKI printer for very reasonable prices.

Well that was a couple of months ago and the time has come to replace the ink cartridges and fuck me – this is daft.

            I know this rant isn’t original

            I know everyone has this problem

            I know I’m meant to suck it up

But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

To fill the Oki up with ink will cost £400 or so

To junk it. Throw it away. Bin the bloody thing and buy a new printer will cost (with golden hello discounts and welcome to our world incentives) cost £180.

Deep breath.  That’s right. To render an perfectly good printer obsolete and make it disposable is economically more viable than purchasing the fruits of somebody else using eye-watering amounts of irreplaceable assets to create another one..

And this, to borrow from Network, makes me mad as hell.  And I’m hoping (the English version) to not take it any more.

The ink in the cartridges is worthless (relatively) but too many people in marketing looked at the Gillette model and thought “hell, yes. Ripping up the planet is a great idea compared to making efficient use of the resources we have” Let’s make something effectively redundant  - and I have to add folks, this is a big machine – office size and capable of pumping out printed matter faster than you can say “please somebody break this insane market” – lets make it economically viable to dispose of the bloody thing to buy a new one.

Well, I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.  It is just crazy that we have to throw this thing away. It works beautifully.  The only problem is a series of decisions in marketing departments who have thrown away the textbook marked “clever” in favour of the one marked “venal”.

But I’m as mad as hell and I wont take this waste and stupidity any more.  Take the long view of the planet Hewlett Packard, Canon, and indeed Oki. Please. Just stop and think how you can possibly justify your actions when we come to realise WAL-E style, Huxley –style, that this was all wrong.

How can we defend throwing away perfectly viable pieces of kit just because some arse in marketing hit a great yet exploitative model? 

The other day  - valentines day on of my colleagues  - whose partner clearly loves him at least as much as mine  - who sent me a card saying “I love you like a back alley whore loves crack” – well Martin’s partner sent him a helium balloon is a very elaborate cardboard box with a ribbon on.

Srsly?

A sack of heart shaped inert gas in a cardboard box?? Thus did we express our emotions as the earth died around us?

I love Martin and his partner but this has got to stop, we have to think.  We have to say I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore and hope someone at OKI hears. And then someone at Hewlett Packard. And Canon and wherever else. Please guys. Most other Corporates are really getting there. It will kill you in the end - trust me i know this stuff  - i've been part of the team that rescued far bigger businesses than any of yours for  this kind f insanity so move now. Please.