Elias Plastiras (PC World)
In one of the more entertaining printer surveys we’ve seen recently, HP polled 1051 office workers in 2013 to find out ‘how Australians use their printers’. The research, conducted online by Lonergan Research, came out with all sorts of interesting numbers about waiting times and extra wages, but it also found that up to 25 per cent of males are most likely to shout verbal abuse at office printers, while 23 per cent of females are mostly likely to ‘stroke the printer with words of encouragement to make it print faster’.
HP supplied the information on the same day that it released its new range of enterprise inkjet printers, which it claims are a real alternative to laser printers, capable of offering up to twice the print speed of comparable-class lasers.
HP’s findings claim that an employee spends five minutes waiting for a document to print every day, and waits at the printer for up to 23 hours per year. Queenslanders spent the most time at the printer than workers in any other state.
Respondents said that printers are often the most overlooked equipment when it comes to office upgrades, with 73 per cent of workers claiming their computer was upgraded more frequently, and 47 per cent claiming their printer was over three years old. Of all the states, printers are upgraded the least in NSW and ACT.
Workers in NSW were mostly likely to be affected by office rage caused by printers, with up to 60 per cent of employees admitting to using violence against a printer (probably in a bid to get it upgraded). Queenslanders were the most patient.
