However, the effort to build a better printer at this point means for ever R&D dollar spent on improvement, you might get fifty cents back; it just doesn’t make sense to innovate at small levels.
However, shareholders expect profits to grow year over year, so the temptation to squeeze more money out of something without investing to create any actual value is perpetually on the CEO’s mind. That’s why we get DRM in ink and printers that self destruct after 3 years.
Blame capitalism for the horrid state of modern printers.