Disposable printer lasts only as long as the ink cartridge

The Instant Cartridge Printer, by designers Yuexun Chen and Chia-Chen
Hsiao, is a striking concept that is not only a neat idea, but makes
you think about just how much your printer really does for you, acting as a middleman between you and ink cartridges.













Instead of buying a new ink cartridge when your printer runs out of ink, the cartridge itself is
the printer. That'd make buying a "printer" the same as picking up a
disposable camera. Need to print something during your lunch break? Go
pick one up. On vacation but want to print out some photos for the
family? Same thing.

The size of the cartridge would also determine what kind of paper
you'd need. With today's cameras and digital storage able to talk
directly to printers without the need of a computer, something like this
could be really awesome. Sure, they make some portable printers
nowadays, but disposable ones?

The designers also envision the Instant Cartridge Printer as recyclable, which is a nice thought.