Absolutely. cf. https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/14/business/bmw-subscription/ind... as just one example of dozens, if not hundreds.
I have to say though, mine doesn't obey the DRM. It warns you if there is no sticker, but it works fine.
It's unavoidable that if customers have behavior X, such as tending to go for the cheapest thing, sellers in the market will develop clever strategies to game that behavior. Retailers go so far as to research how the colors, shapes, and surface textures of packaging affect buying behavior, so of course they are also going to intensively study customer price sensitivity behavior too.
I've learned that with a lot of things such as appliances, tools, and some electronics it's actually cheaper to buy the higher-end model. It's cheaper to buy one good one than two or three pieces of junk that break easily.
They just don't realize the tradeoff they're making until it's too late.
Why aren't people doing the most basic of research before buying things?
Fundamentally you can make more money by overcharging for consumables and undercharging for the product itself, than you can by "fairly" charging for both. In any product or industry with high entry costs (read: low risk of new competitor market entrant showing up), many businesses realistically are going to leave that kind of money on the table?
Be aware that at least some brother lasers you have to replace another part every 10,000 sheets, which is the duration of two to five toner replacements. I am unsure if it's the heater or the laser or what.
Haven’t replaced it in 10 years, haven’t reached the limit yet ;)
I'm a little disappointed, to say the least.
On the other hand, after putting it on the Wi-Fi, everything was able to print without the addition of any crapware drivers. Win some lose some?
Safety razors aren't a direct substitute for a modern standard shaving razor, even if it's arguably better.
Brother printers don't have DRM (yay!) but the toner cartridges are definitely being sold at a huge markup. That's OK because the price is fine with me, but they're still using the same "cheap product, expensive consumables" pricing model as everyone else. How could they not?
The market is flooded with DRM-free Air Purifiers.
You can get an old school safety razor for under $20 and it will last forever. They are what double sided razor blades (the kind you normally see used in movies to split cocaine) were designed to fit into. Good razor blades can be found at a rate of about $0.05-$0.10 per, and last about 4-5 shaves - for me at least - before they start going dull and pulling. They also get me as clean of a shave as any other razor
Still not sure why people pay 10x more on cartridge systems, but maybe I'm just weird
Ultimately, electric razors are my favorite. You have to do a fair amount of work to get a close shave, but you also don't have to later up and you shove it in a charging base to clean it every day. I'm not sure it saves much money (when you replace the foils as recommended), but it is convenient and does a good enough job for me.
I'd argue that this technique is borderline fraud. It plays against the common assumptions of what the product is without advertising it.