Printing out of the cloud

I really can't think of a reason I need to print to a remote printer from my [phone|laptop|tablet]. Why not just send the document? I'm also imagining quite the security nightmare for these printers where confidential data is concerned. (Think PCI and HIPAA).

Dave

To justify selling tablets and smartphones that have no native printer connectivity?

Network printing? Or do I really need to print my boarding pass at the Kwik-E-Mart?

There really isn't much of a reason for it. First, printing from a smartphone makes no sense at all. If I want to print a map or something, I need it now, not later that day when I get home. Instead, I'll just look at it on the phone itself. Honestly, I can't think of a single time I've wanted to print something while surfing on a smartphone.

Second, printing from a laptop again makes no sense. If I want to print something, I need it now, not in a few days when I get home from my business trip. It's more useful to be able to print to the hotel's printer, which is something you can already do at many decent hotels. Why would I want to send something back home for printing? If I need it that much, I can email myself a PDF.

Is this something that can be leveraged by a FedEx office space or some such thing? Maybe a printing kiosk?

If the device in question has an SSH client (think Android here) you could scp it to a home or office system, ssh in to that system, and print. That's old school cloud printing. The reason it needs to be replaced is that Google can't mine and sell the data/information you are printing unless you use their newfangled cloud app.

I finally got it- in a fog about cloud. Haw. Good one!

tc,

Fogs hug the ground, whereas clouds are up in the sky sucking up the Sun's rays. And those of the latter set that climb high rain havoc on all those that piddle at ground level.

So you have no option, but to join the cloud. Once there you will learn the travails of a hail stone life cycle. Pushed here and there with no obvious rationale then sent without warning to your demise. That is, once your bank account is depleted or there is an unavoidable event for which the owners owe nothing because legally they are not culpable for god driven failures. Then you will find true happiness with your consumer days ended as grounded permanently in poverty. However, look at the bright side, your betters live well for the moment with your generous gifts of cash and data.

YBT