HP are such scammers

I posted about this very cheap printer before, which strongly suggests that there is No USB, only Wifi. When I first got it I figured out how to print over the network without using the app they try to bully you into downloading.

It turns out it's even easier to print, just use the USB port they try to pretend isn't there!

No company is going to rewrite their firmware to remove the USB stack. It's even more expensive to redesign the hardware to get rid of the USB port physically. They opted for the cheapest option, a little sticker.

They are just trying to store everyone's documents in their stupid cloud service that some teenage extortion group is going to break into and leak one day. Don't give them your data.

@netspooky I don't see what the use of hiding the port is for them.
@steeph @netspooky They're not hiding it, they're getting you to set up the printer over wifi, and only use the USB port after that. It seems if you use the USB port straight away it'll only print up to 20 pages then stop. They do this to get you to opt into hp+ and lock the printer in to use official toner. That's why the printer is so cheap
@yaxu @steeph @netspooky I'm guessing the really want it on wifi for analytics and maybe surprise firmware updates that remove features