The Best Argument for Americanized Spelling I've Ever Seen

[Aggie]

Being a stubborn Canadian who hangs on to any cultural differences between us and our Big Brother to the south, I've steadfastly stuck to keeping the 'u' in words like colour and neighbour (and occasionally insert it in inappropriate places, like authour).  The infographic in the next post gives some details on how choices of fonts and spellings of words can have real-world implications, in aggregate.  It's the only argument I've seen for dropping the u that doesn't smack of pure laziness. 

Infographic to follow.

[Aggie]

[Bluenose]

I dislike Americanised   spellings.  Call me a fuddy-duddy, but there it is.  However, given that I hardly ever print out anything these days and stick to electronic versions, I think I'll stick to honour, colour and aluminium, despite the approaching ink-jet ink apocalypse.

[Griffin NoName]

The one American spelling I seem to have acquired is the "s" in Blue's post A "z" now looks wrong to me. I have no idea how this has happended. Perhaps an s takes less ink than a z and I may yet save the world from the aforementioned apocalypse.

It's a great infographic.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

If you are the kind of person who prints a lot then you should use toner (ie, a laser printer) rather than use ink cartridges (see below):

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/mar/30/inkjet-or-laser-printing-cost-effective

If the problem is spelling use a smaller font. 

But the best thing you can do is to avoid printing altogether. 

[Aggie]

I think I'll stick to honour, colour and aluminium, despite the approaching ink-jet ink apocalypse.

We're actually a mixed bag up here. Most words are flexible, although I think in formal writing the u's are usually retained.  However, 'aluminium' is a totally foreign spelling and pronunciation to me.  I think there's a good case for the British version (it's a more beautiful pronunciation) based on the majority of element names.

Incidentally, why do we say/spell platinum instead of platinium? This seems to be the only other exception to the rule, and legitimizes aluminum somewhat.

Zed instead of ess still looks right to me in most cases, but either is preferable to using that bloody zee that the Yanks have.

[Swatopluk]

We use that precious metal without the um at all.
And don't ask for logic in chemical nomenclature.

[Bluenose]

...
However, 'aluminium' is a totally foreign spelling and pronunciation to me.
...

Evidence for those that think the correct alternate name for Kanuckistan is Some More United States.   

<runs away and hides under a bush>

[Griffin NoName]

Incidentally, why do we say/spell platinum instead of platinium? This seems to be the only other exception to the rule, and legitimizes aluminum somewhat.

No, does not legitimize it at all. English (as in proper English) relies on the "exception proves the rule."

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Awww... Zono stole my thunder.

I was going to say, I side-step the whole issue, by using plastic powder instead of expensive ink. 

My venerable laser-jet printer uses carbon-infused polyester powder instead of ink, just like the old Xerox machines of yesterday.  It's pretty cheap stuff-- I can print 10,000 or more pages with a $30 toner cartridge. 

Which for me?  Means that printer has a literal lifetime supply of "ink"-- it'll break down and quit working long before it runs out of toner.

I love how it just sits there patently in the back room, waiting quietly until I issue the "print this" command.  Then?  It wakes up, spits out the page(s) and goes back to sleep for another month or three. 

If, for some god-forsaken reason I actually need color?  I take my print job down to the local quicky-print shop, and use their $10,000 color laser printer-- it does 100 times better than anything I could conceivably afford, and I never have to pay for printer mess-ups-- they just move to an alternate machine, and viola!  My job is done--better than I could ever hope to do myself. 

[Griffin NoName]

I use an all-in-one copy, scanner, printer. I use the copy most, and oocasionally the scanner. There are times when I use the  print function a lot and then fallow times. I'm not too bothered about colour, but it is nice to print photos occasionally. The quality of print for the photos is fine as my eyesight is not good, even with spectacles. So I don't have a laser printer. I buy ink-cartridges about every 10 months.

[Aggie]

I haven't had much use for a printer in the last few years, but prefer to use a laser printer by far, especially since the printings hold up to water damage.  I really have no use for printing in colour, so I agree with Bob....  take it to the copy centre or if it's a photo, use London Drugs' online service and pick it up in a few hours.

However, toner up here is ridiculously expensive in most cases...  I looked at replacing toner for my previous dead-basic Samsung laser printer (which was getting a bit cranky with age and probably dust) and it would cost $94 incl. tax (plus an eco fee on top) for a 2000 pg toner cartridge. That's still real money (about 5c) per page.  I ended up buying a comparable but much more compact Samsung model new and on sale for $74.41 incl. tax instead. That's the cheapest I've ever really seen a laser printer go for; inkjets can be had for as little as $30 on sale.  The cartridges for the new printer are a little cheaper - $78.38 tax in - but half the capacity.

It's still probably cheaper than ink cartridges on a per-page basis, and the quality is much better IMHO, but actually inexpensive? Not really. Obviously there are economies of scale that apply for office-size units, but those aren't really an option and the total outlay would still be higher.

I'm not refuting what Bob is saying; on the contrary, it highlights the massive tech-price gaps between Canada and the US.



**Side Note** Since this is the best argument for Merkinized spelling I've seen, I'm keeping the 'u's.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

The other thing about toner is that you can find it from non-brand providers for a much more reasonable price with less chance of 'chip security' issues*. Another reason why I hate ink printers.

*the way brand providers use to screw customers by sending false empty readings or simply not working.

[Griffin NoName]

I never take any notice of software telling the ink is low/empty. I wait til nothing will print. Usually gives double the time.

.............it would cost $94 incl. tax (plus an eco fee on top) for a 2000 pg toner cartridge. That's still real money (about 5c) per page.  I ended up buying a comparable but much more compact Samsung model new and on sale for $74.41 incl. tax instead. That's the cheapest I've ever really seen a laser printer go for; inkjets can be had for as little as $30 on sale.  The cartridges for the new printer are a little cheaper - $78.38 tax in - but half the capacity.

But doesn't that mean it is cheaper to buy a new printer each time rather than new cartridges?

[Aggie]

Ayuh, although the cartridges shipped with printers usually have less toner/ink included, so it's not really cheaper on a per page basis.  It leads to a ridiculous amount of e-waste.  The idea is to make less money on the initial purchase, but to make more money once you're looped into a given brand on the cartridges, but quite often people will just buy a whole new unit because it feels like better value.

I'm sure there are non-brand toner options out there, but they are not easy to find nor off the shelf up here.  Online retail is way less convenient in Canada than in the US.