Tech Wars, Vol. 1

I just posted an amazon.com review of the Brother Intellifax 1840c machine that I am about to junk. It's not up on their site yet, but it says:

[headline]
I would swap it for a case of beer and bust every bottle.
[copy]
I will never buy another Brother product again. I sent the following e-mail to Brother through their web site: “My Brother Intellifax 1840c Fax machine is apparently disabled because color ink cartridges are empty. I have no interest in or use for color printing/faxing on this machine. How can I continue to use the machine without going to the expense of replacing useless color ink cartridges?” A few days later, I received this reply: “Brother Customer: Thank you for taking the time to write to us. We apologize for any inconvenience. The color inks works with black to allow the printing ability of this machine. You will need to replace any empty ink cartridge in machine to resume printing. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. Sincerely, Facsimile E-mail Support, Brother International Corporation, USA, faxsupp@brother.com.” This machine is essentially an elaborate scam to force you to continually buy color inks (even if you never print in color, the machines uses up its color ink supplies by frequent “cleaning” of the heads), which multiplies the cost of operation exponentially. Did I mention that I will never buy another Brother product again? Sincerely. I am junking this Intellifax 1840c and buying a laser all-in-one; wish me luck.