When in cartridge form, it's more expensive than vintage champagne, and even human blood.

而如果是以單一墨水匣內的量計算，它比陳年香檳，甚至是人血都還要來得更貴。

In fact, it can be cheaper to buy an entire printer than it is to purchase new ink cartridges.

事實上，購買整臺印表機可能還比購買新墨水匣更便宜。

So why is printer ink so expensive?

所以到底為什麼印表機的墨水如此昂貴？

Let's start with the first printers.

讓我們從史上第一臺印表機開始說起。

No, not that far.

不，沒那麼久以前。

No. Come on. There we go.

不對。別鬧了。這才對嘛。

Inkjet printers were first developed in the 1960s, and early computer inks were made from food dye and water.

噴墨印表機在 1960 年代時被開發出來，而早期的電腦墨水還是由食品色素和水製成的。

Because of this, they would fade after a few months.

因為如此，它們在幾個月後就會褪色。

So companies had to develop a dye that gave permanent photographic quality.

所以各家公司不得不開發出一種能夠提供永久攝影級品質的染料。

In 1988, Hewlett Packard achieved just that with the first mass market inkjet printer, which sold for about $1,000.

1988 年，惠普公司以第一臺面向大眾市場的噴墨印表機實現了這個目標，而該機種的售價約為 1,000 美元。

But a lot has changed since then.

但從那時起，很多事情都發生了變化。

Today you can buy a brand new printer for around $35. But there's a catch.

如今你可以用 35 美元左右的價格買到一臺全新的印表機，然而其中事有蹊俏。

When the ink runs out in one of these printers, you need to buy specific cartridges, and these cartridges are expensive.

當這些印表機的墨水用完時，你需要購買特定的墨水匣，而這些墨水匣相當昂貴。

So why are the cartridges so pricey?

那麼，為什麼墨水匣的價格如此高昂？

Ah, that's simple. Greed, and an outdated razor and blades model.

這還不簡單。原因就是貪婪，還有過時的「刮鬍刀與刀片」商業模式。

This is David Connett. He's the former editor of The Recycler, and has been lobbying for change in the print ink industry for years.

這位是 David Connett。他是《回收者》的前編輯，多年來一直在遊說對印表機墨水產業的變革。

They sell the printers cheap. They sell the consumables very... at a very expensive price, and basically it's a formula there.

他們把印表機賣的很便宜，然後把消耗品賣得很貴。這基本上可以列成一個公式了。

The cheaper the printer, the more expensive the consumables.

印表機越便宜，消耗品就越貴。

Once you bought a printer that uses cartridges, you're trapped in a cycle. You have no choice but to buy them or throw away your printer.

一旦你購買了一臺需要使用墨水匣的印表機，你就陷入了一個循環。你別無選擇，只能購買墨水匣或扔掉你的印表機。

As a printer is typically a one time purchase, companies don't mind selling them at loss, and making the money back through cartridge sales.

由於一般人通常只會購買一次印表機，這些公司不介意虧本銷售機器，並通過販賣墨水匣來把錢賺回來。

The HP Envy 4520 all in one printer, for example, sells for $70 but is estimated to cost $120 to manufacture.

例如，惠普 Envy 4520 一體式印表機的售價為 70 美元，但其估計製造成本為 120 美元。

The loss they make on printers means that companies need to sell ink cartridges to make a profit, and this model has led to a battleground between printer manufacturers and third party ink suppliers.

在印表機上的虧損意味著公司需要靠銷售墨水匣來賺取利潤，而這種商業模式導致了印表機製造商和第三方墨水供應商之間的爭戰不休。

The companies do everything they can to keep you buying official in cartridges.

這些公司竭盡所能地想讓你持續購買官方的墨水匣。

Manufacturers install microchips into their cartridges and frequently issue firmware updates to prevent the use of third party ink, which can be more affordable.

製造商會在他們的墨水匣中安裝微晶片，並經常性地發佈韌體更新以防止你使用更便宜的第三方墨水匣。

Last year, almost 900 firmware upgrades were issued by just nine printer manufacturers. So that's almost three a day.

去年，僅僅為數九家的印表機製造商就發佈了將近九百個韌體升級檔案。也就說每天就會有三個檔案推陳出新。

I mean, that's just like either absolute incompetence, because you've got to do it so much, or it is a definite stealth tactics to control the market.

我想說的是，這要不是代表這些公司非常的無能，才得一直對產品的軟體更新，要不就是代表他們肯定在進行一種控制市場的隱蔽戰術。

Printer companies attribute the high costs of the research and development that goes into perfecting printing.

印表機公司將他們的高成本歸因於對於影印技術的研究和開發。

The materials they use, however, cost very little.

然而他們所使用的材料成本其實很低。

Um, manufacturing cost of ink is between €20 and €40 a liter.

墨水的製造成本每公升在 20 到 40 歐元之間。

And a lot of the ink you buy never even gets used for printing.

而你所購買的墨水裡，其中有很多甚至沒有被真的用在影印上。

According to a 2018 test by Consumer Reports, more than half the ink you buy could end up lost in maintenance cycles for cleaning the print heads.

根據《消費者報告》在 2018 年的一項測試指出，你所購買的墨水最後可能有超過一半的量都被用在清理墨水噴頭的例行維護程序上。

And printers that use multiple color ink cartridges also stop working as soon as one color runs out, even if the other colors are still full.

而使用多種顏色墨水匣的印表機常在其中一個顏色用完之後便無法使用，儘管其它的顏色都還是滿的。

These days, you're getting even less for your money.

而最近你所花費同樣的錢能買到的墨水量甚至更少了。

While the cartridges themselves at the same size and price, they often contain far less ink inside than they used to.

雖然墨水匣的尺寸和價格看起來都一樣，裡面裝載的墨水跟以前相比越要少得多。

The ink in many manufacturers' cartridges has shrunk from 20 ml to around 5 ml over the past few years, without any reduction in price.

在過去幾年，許多製造商的墨水匣從原本容納了 20 毫升的墨水縮減到約 5 毫升，而價格卻完全沒有下降。

The original size 20 ml cartridges are often still on sale, but they are often sold as extra large cartridges for even more money.

內含 20 毫升的一般尺寸卡匣雖然通常仍在繼續販售，但它們現在被視為特大號墨水匣，並且以更高昂的價格販賣。

And some new cartridges can have as little as 3 ml of ink inside.

某些全新推出的墨水匣裡頭甚至只有 3 毫升的墨水。

Some companies have now even started ink subscriptions, deactivating your cartridges remotely if you print more than you're allocated pages.

一些公司現在甚至開始推行墨水訂閱制度，並在你影印的量超過方案額度後遠端停用你的墨水匣。

Laser printers offer a lower cost alternative to inkjet but produce a lower quality printed image.

雷射印表機提供了比噴墨印表機更低成本的選擇，但印出來的影像品質更較低。

The real solution for many, though, would be to offer more efficient in cartridges.

不過其實對許多人來說，真正的解決方案是廠商應該提供更有效率的墨水匣。

This product, you know, can be better engineered.

這個產品其實可以設計得更好。

They could liaise with the aftermarket to, uh, to actually, uh, you know, find a a solution that works for everybody.

他們可以與售後市場溝通，來實際地找出一個能讓每個人都滿意的解決方案。

Because, you know, this ultimately—this is bad for the consumer because it's overpriced and expensive, and it's bad for the environment because it doesn't... it doesn't need to be made that way.

因為這其實最後對消費者來說並不好，因為墨水匣的價格被訂得太貴了，而且對環境也不好，因為... 這個產品其實不用以這種方式來製造。

We reached out to Canon and HP for comment.

我們聯繫了佳能和惠普以徵求意見。

HP replied with this statement.

惠普公司的答覆是這樣的。

Original HP ink and toner cartridges deliver the best possible printing experience for customers.

原廠的惠普墨水與硒鼓能為我們的顧客帶來最好的影印體驗。

We make significant investments in R&D each year to provide the highest levels of print quality, safety and environmental sustainbility.

我們每年在研發上都投入了大量資金，藉此來提供最高等級的影印品質、安全性與環境永續性。

When customers purchase HP, they are reducing plastic waste and contributing to a circular economy.

當顧客購買惠普的產品時，他們也減少了塑膠廢棄物，並為一個循環經濟做出了貢獻。

And we work tirelessly to maximize value for our customers, including Instant Ink, our "ink delivery" subscription service which includes ink, shipping and recycling.

我們一直在孜孜不倦地為了最大化我們的顧客所能獲得的價值做出努力，其中包括了 Instant Ink，也就是我們的「墨水送貨到府」訂閱服務，其中內含了墨水本身、送貨以及回收服務。