Ink is a historical product that has been around for more than 5,000 years. We humans have been using it to print on paper for hundreds of years. As the story goes it took Johannes Gutenberg three years to make 200 copies of the bible. Fortunately, for modern civilization, through research and manufacturing by companies like Hewlett-Packard and others ink cartridges exist that give us the capability to make 200 copies in mere minutes.

There's little doubt that some compatible inks do live up to their claims. With proprietary rights limitations and quick expiration dates of those rights, it's easy for another company to analyze the ink in, let's say a Hewlett Packard ink cartridge, come up with the formula, manufacture and market the ink for less than Hewlett Packard. Since these third-party companies don't need to research their products, their production costs are far less than those of the original manufacturer are.

We've reached a point where the sales of inkjet cartridge exceed the sales of the printers they go in. Thus, Hewlett-Packard and other printer manufacturers spend more and more money searching for toners to keep a piece of patent rights of this lucrative market. There are many reasons to buy Hewlett-Packard patented cartridges. Starting with the best reason of all, and that being quality and durability. For the consumer expecting more longevity and quality ink jet cartridges it stands to reason that you have to be willing to pay for such a higher standard.

It wasn't that long ago that talk was rampant that we would have paperless offices before long. However, today paper is still clearly and apparently will always be an integral part of the office environment. More documents are being printed than every before and the continuous use of paper is climbing at by almost 10 percent each year. This as consumers demand higher quality and better print related products. For years Hewlett-Packard has met this demand by introducing remarkably low priced printers with multipurpose functions that will scan, copy, and even fax the copy as well. Nevertheless, the truth is, there is no free lunch. If consumers want better options in printing there is a price to be paid to have these products researched and manufactured.