Driverless printing has been "the future" for over a decade now (I remember hearing much about it back in 2006 or so), and a concept for two decades. Microsoft first filed the patent back in 1999 [0]. The only thing that's changed is the patent is now expired (as near as I can tell), thus opening the door a bit wider for adoption.

But, as with many things, "I'll believe it when I see it."

[0] https://patents.google.com/patent/US6952831B1/en

Ridiculous that a patent for such a thing should ever have been granted.

"Driver" is merely the word we use for "protocol", when the protocol is ad-hoc, non-standard, or badly documented.

On what grounds should that patent not have been granted?

Seems like a pretty normal patent to me. Technology doesn't have to be likable, a good design, or even functional to be patented.

On the grounds that laws allowing such patents shouldn't exist.

Isn't "driverless printing" essentially a standard printing protocol + a way to describe the printers capabilities ? If so I would say that driverless printing has been a thing since Postscript was invented (early 80s, if I am not mistaken)?

Otherwise known as "why dont my pdf's print right, and why cant I select tray 3?"

AirPrint on iOS and macOS does this, no?

Not sure if anyone has cloned that in a Windows utility, but a lot of printers support it.

Chrome OS supports “native” printing. I think it’s more or less interoperable with AirPrint.

The problem would be mostly solved if Windows added native support and added a giant warning when anyone tries to install a printer driver saying that it’s a terrible idea.

Is that driverless or a universal driver? Maybe the distinction doesn't matter...

Absolutely!

Google Plus is the superior way of keeping up with blogs and news sites, and I am really enjoying texting with my friends over Allo ever since they discontinued Hangouts.

I prefer Google Reader

I assume parent poster was being sarcastic

I believe your parent was too- Google Reader has also been cancelled.

I bought a $200 Brother laser printer a few years ago. It supports: >LPD >Raw Port >IPP >AirPrint >Mopria >Google Cloud Print

and, I think, a bunch of proprietary HP/Epson protocols.

The best part is the toner cartridge that comes with it lasts long enough to totally recoup the cost difference between it and a "consumer" inkjet printer

Until there's more competition in the printer space: good luck.

Printer companies want to differentiate and upsell. The best way of doing that is via software which means first party "drivers" (which is really this huge bundle of bloat and ads at this point). If anyone has recently installed a consumer inkjet for a family member will know what I am talking about. It is basically adware.

Those of us sticking to our nice boring laser printers aren't the main market for consumer printers, it is the Epson/HP/etc sold by big box retailers.

HPs small business printers are annoying too. I bought an OfficeJet 8720 for my home and it's a pretty good printer except for the fact that they are relentless when it comes to pushing their auto-ink ordering. They also really want you to make an account at HP and put the printer on the internet.

When people ask me about home printers for very occasional use, I advise them to use Staples/Office Depot/FedEx office printers at 12-14 cents per page. Saved a lot of people from buying printers.

Printer manufacturers don’t care about up selling. They want to sell high margins ink/toner. All consumer printers support iOS and MacOS that don’t require drivers.

Ahem.

> There exist a variety of methods for a client to submit a job to a printing system and print driverlessly-:

Use a cloud service such as Google Cloud Print (GCP).

I guess Waymo will take it over in that case.