I just replaced my inkjet printer, a model I’d bought less than two years ago—not because it broke or because I didn’t like the quality, but because it ran out of ink. Sound absurd? I paid $40 for the new printer (which scans and copies too). New ink cartridges for the last one would have cost me $55. Welcome to the economics of inkjet printing: Give away the printers, gouge them on the cartridges.

Being a tech consumer is a treacherous endeavor these days. Installing software, upgrading a piece of hardware or even just plugging in a new peripheral is a pursuit wrought with danger. That’s because, as a man named Murphy has us conditioned to believe, something will inevitably go wrong. And when things do go haywire—when Part A won’t play nice with Part B—you’re left trying to figure out just what’s to blame. Is it your operating system? Is it the USB port on your computer? Is it your thingamajig’s firmware?