You know, I think you're onto something. I'll try to paraphrase it and
clear up the idea.

We fall into two-and-three-half camps here:
1. People who care about printing photographs.
2. People who don't print photographs and want good text printing with
some color to spice things up.
3. People who just want black printing.
4. People who mostly print text and graphics with occasional photos.
5. People who go to the store and buy OEM cartridges. They are not us.
They are probably Republicans and/or "naive end users." Or, hell: just
plain folks.

The requirements are different.

Group #1 cares about professional-quality results. These people need
consistent, repeatable results from their tools and supplies. Image
permanence is important. The criteria are similar to the criteria for
professional, serious amateur, and art photography.

Group #2 just want ink that works. Minor inconsistency is OK. Price is
important.

Group #3 need good crisp black ink performance and reasonable
permanence. They'll be just fine with laser/LED printers, and they'll
get high speed in the bargain. Price matters.

Group 4 will be similar to group 2. They want their photos to come out
pretty good, but color balance isn't super-critical. They'll be OK with
photo quality similar to automated drugstore 1-hour photo labs, cheap
mail-order photo processors, etc. They're into snapshots. Price matters.

Group 5 people don't hang out here.

None of these people want clogged heads and smeary printouts. If they
have an Okidata LED or a cheap Brother laser printer, they may flip out
when the time comes and they learn the price of a new drum.

So, it's clear that some people who participate here are very concerned
about knowing the source of their ink, in the same way that some
photographers need to know which batch their film is from. These
photographers tend to buy color film in bulk, and store the rolls in the
freezer. I'll venture that mostly, these serious inkjet users probably
have Canon printers. These people probably know that consistency will
cost money. Their vendors will not be able to buy ink on the spot
market, and the vendors will have to pay more for their consistent
supplies; thus, their wares will sell for more money. That's the
trade-off and it's worth it.

The other folks will probably be satisfied by getting very low prices
and bulk-reloaded cartridges of decent quality. If they fill their own
cartridges, they'll also be happy with no-name rebottled ink, so long as
that ink is of good quality, doesn't clog heads, etc. They're willing to
play ball with good ink mongers who buy decent ink on the spot market.

What's important is that we all realize these distinctions, and don't
try to lay our own particular requirements onto a poster whose needs are
different than our own.

I welcome corrections, illuminations, and comments.

Richard

Done

It seems you are more disturbed with my "PLONKING" than the syntax used.
 I'll explain my reason for *PLONKING* in this instance.  I have come
to the conclusion that in this newsgroup there are some who have become
as irritating as the poster I originally _PLONKED_ because they appear
to be fixated on that individual and want to encourage him to post more
drivel.  Therefore, I need to "widen my net" so to speak in order to
further filter out more useless posts involving the original <PLONKEE>.
 I hope this helps clear your confusion.  I have no reason to ~PLONK~
you at this time. ;)