Product Decisions articles
Sending a Printer Profile Is Table Stakes. Now What?
Enrollment gets the printer through the door. Configuration gets it behaving. Neither tells me whether it is about to stop a checkout line. The real work starts when Intelligence gives the fleet a heartbeat.
Wired Printer Enrollment, Cables and All
A Zebra printer, three cables, a provisioning file, and the thing my daughter wanted me to print. Wired enrollment is not glamorous, but it is honest hardware.
I Installed the Wrong App: Wireless Printer Enrollment
I installed Zebra Print. Wrong app. Once I recovered, a Samsung phone and Bluetooth replaced the Windows laptop in the enrollment handoff.
Welcome to the Jam: My Hot Take on Printer Management
Fifteen years ago, Android fragmentation made device management feel like a collection of exceptions. Printer management gives me the same feeling, except now there are label rolls involved.
Why I Keep Calling Connectors the Boogeyman
Connectors bring another service, another owner, and another place to look when something breaks. I still call them the boogeyman. I also still need them.
Talk MQTT to Me
MQTT is plumbing. Good. I would rather reuse good plumbing than turn every new printer manufacturer into another custom integration project.