But... has there ever been a time when they actually worked? Brother, being "fine, I guess" and the modern champion isn't that different from the past, when they also didn't work.
They're now SaaS-burdened and enshittified. But the lack of reliability, burning ink like water, etc. aren't new problems. Those date back to at least 1998, which is the earliest I owned a printer that wasn't daisy-wheel/tractor-feed.