exactly! I saw those cartridge slots and thought its the same HP strangle-hold all over again. HP lives for vendor-lockin. Locked in to the data format, locked into the cartridges, and whatever else they can think of.
I do have tons of respect for the abilities of HP's research dept to make just this kind of printer. Its fantastic and thrilling to think of the research resources of HP moving 3D printing forward. The HP suits will make sure the attached business model imprisons the technological gains.
As I understand it, that's only because consumers weren't amenable to paying the real price of the hardware up front. Much like video game consoles. If the manufacturer didn't have the game market locked down, they would have to sell the consoles for several hundred dollars more, which strangles demand.
The lock-in model is, in many cases, an effective way at reducing the front-loaded nature of captial expense. The lock-in is defended because if it vanishes halfway through the market play, the whole play fails.
I do have tons of respect for the abilities of HP's research dept to make just this kind of printer. Its fantastic and thrilling to think of the research resources of HP moving 3D printing forward. The HP suits will make sure the attached business model imprisons the technological gains.