Who throws ink into the sea. Chemists have found unusual substances with beneficial properties. The oldest writing instrument

Ruchkina N.

(“HiZh”, 2014, No. 7)

Even in ancient times, peoples living by the sea became acquainted with cephalopods (class Cephalopoda): squid, octopus and cuttlefish. Legends were made about these amazing animals, which did not stop people from catching and eating them. The cuisine of the Mediterranean countries, Turkey, South Asia, Spain and Portugal is unthinkable without cephalopods. And in our time of globalization, online trade and frozen products, anyone can try these shellfish.

How are cephalopods useful and to whom are they harmful? Cephalopods have a lot of dietary benefits. First of all, it is low in calories, from 80 to 100 calories per 100 grams. Their meat is rich in proteins, which contain a full range of essential amino acids, so the nutritional properties of shellfish are superior to beef and pork. The quality of meat depends on the species, as well as the fishing season. Some squids, for example, have more protein in their meat in winter and less water than in summer. Squid, by the way, are champions among invertebrates in terms of the content of the deficient essential amino acids arginine and lysine, especially needed by children, as well as leucine and isoleucine.

There are very few fats, mostly “medicinal” unsaturated fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6, in which the nearest double bond is in the third or sixth position from the methyl end. They are necessary for normal brain function, vascular health, skin and hair. Another advantage is vitamins A, D, E, PP, B vitamins. Octopuses can boast of vitamin K. Let’s not forget about micro- and macroelements: zinc, iron, copper, potassium, iodine, phosphorus and selenium, as well as calcium and magnesium . Selenium removes heavy metal salts from the body, iodine is necessary for the functioning of the thyroid gland, potassium normalizes the functioning of the heart muscle, has a diuretic effect and prevents the development of edema and hypertension. Blood pressure is also stabilized by taurine, which is rich in cephalopod meat. This derivative of the amino acid cysteine ​​reduces cholesterol levels in the blood (octopuses, by the way, have quite a lot of cholesterol, but squid has practically none), has an anti-sclerotic effect, increases physical endurance, stress resistance and removes toxins from the body.

Despite the obvious benefits, cephalopods cannot be called completely safe. Their protein is a strong allergen; the reaction to seafood can be very strong and sometimes leads to anaphylactic shock. Those for whom iodine is harmful should also take care. Fans of dried squid should be wary of arthrosis and salt deposits. Another cause for concern is sea pollution. Cephalopods accumulate harmful substances, cuttlefish more, squid less. In general, 150-200 g twice a week, probably not worth more. The safest for both adults and children healthy shellfish- squid.

How to clean. Cooking cephalopods begins with cleaning. These animals have edible tentacles and body (mantle). Entrails, eyes, hard parts (the shell and beak of a cuttlefish, transparent cartilage hidden deep in the body of a squid, hooks on the tentacles of an octopus) must be removed. Take special care when pulling out the ink sac so as not to tear it. The shellfish is thoroughly washed with cold water both before and after cleaning.

Most stores sell shellfish that are already gutted and frozen. All that remains is to remove the skin from them. Some advisers recommend scalding the carcass with boiling water - then the skin will peel off on its own, but the taste of the dish will be ruined. It is more correct, without waiting for complete thawing, to pry the skin from the wide part of the carcass and pull it off like a glove. If this does not work, scrape off the skin with a knife with a rounded tip. Under the colored, bitter skin there is a transparent film. It is edible, but it is better to remove it, because the film forms unappetizing pellets on the finished meat.

Only small mollusks are cooked whole; usually the tentacles are separated and used for salads, and the mantle is cut into rings, strips or squares. On thin pieces of the mantle you can inside make light cuts crosswise with a knife, then the meat will not remain a flat piece during cooking, but will curl into a relief tube.

Cephalopod ink. Cephalopods have a gland that produces a colored liquid - the famous ink. Their supply is stored in a special bag; if necessary, the mollusk shoots ink into the water and disappears in a colored cloud.

Octopuses have black ink, squids have blue-black ink, and cuttlefish have brown ink. In addition to the melanin dye, they contain the enzyme tyrosinase, which regulates the oxidation of phenols, the neurotransmitter dopamine and its precursor L-DOPA, some amino acids, as well as taurine. The ink released by the clam also contains mucus, but when taken directly from the sac, there is no mucus in it. This liquid is used to flavor food: risotto, pasta, sauces. It is added a few minutes before it is ready, although the dye is resistant to heat treatment. The thickness of the ink resembles ketchup. They color dishes and highlight their taste.

Cuttlefish ink has been adopted by homeopaths and is included in preparations for the treatment of certain female and skin diseases, constipation, hemorrhoids, migraines and respiratory diseases.

In our stores, mollusks are usually sold without an ink sac, but cephalopod ink can be purchased separately. The days when they were actually used as ink, especially sepia - the famous brown dye of the cuttlefish - are gone.

What to cook. Cephalopods go well with each other and with other seafood; stores even sell “sea cocktails” - a mixture of squid, mussels and shrimp. Cephalopod meat is served with fish, rice, dough, mushrooms, vegetables and herbs. Soups, pasta, risotto, numerous salads, meat fried in oil and grilled, stewed, marinated, boiled and steamed, stuffed shellfish, kebabs - all these dishes are found in almost any coastal cuisine, differing only in sauces and spices. A universal addition to all seafood dishes is a slice of lemon. Sometimes cephalopods are eaten raw, but this option is only suitable for the freshest shellfish. It's better not to experiment with ice cream.

Experts give a lot of advice regarding the preparation of cephalopods, we will focus on just a few. Shellfish, like fish, are cooked only in enamel, clay or cast iron dishes. An aluminum pan will spoil the taste of the dish.

Small cuttlefish are first fried in a frying pan with their tentacles facing up, then turned over. It tastes better this way. The juicy, meaty octopus intended for stewing is placed in a saucepan without water and placed on low heat. As the octopus heats up, it will begin to release its own liquid, and only when it has evaporated, water is added to the pan and spices are added.

If you are preparing a hot dish, serve it immediately. Cephalopod dishes cannot be heated. whether long or short. All possible ways preparations of squid or cuttlefish can be divided into two groups: they are either fried very quickly or immersed in boiling water, so that heat treatment took no more than two minutes, or stewed or boiled for an hour or two. The fact is that the muscles of cephalopods contain a lot of connective tissue proteins - elastin and collagen. There are especially many such proteins in the integument and tentacles. When heated, they contract and the shellfish meat hardens, but in a minute or two these proteins do not yet have time to warm up sufficiently. If the shellfish is overheated, it becomes tough and must be cooked until the proteins break down into amino acids.

For squid, quick cooking methods are preferable: overcooked meat shrinks and becomes “rubbery.” Some experts recommend putting the squid in a boiling broth or marinade, removing the pan from the heat and letting the meat cool under the lid. Fry the squid for 30-40 seconds, add it to the frying pan a little at a time, otherwise the pieces will not fry well and overheat.

Octopus meat is quite tough; before cooking, it is beaten or frozen for a day, and then thawed, then it becomes softer. Octopuses are fried or stewed; readiness is checked by tasting the meat with a fork: it should be easily pierced, but not fall apart. It is not recommended to stew the octopus head: it contains so much collagen that it turns out to be a jelly. However, if you like jelly...

Big or small? The larger the shellfish, the more meat it contains. There are carcasses weighing 10-12 kg, but in large individuals the flesh is loose and watery or, on the contrary, hard, and large and old octopuses are also fatty. Large deep sea squid generally not suitable for food, because they are impregnated with bitter ammonium chloride, which reduces specific gravity bodies. Thanks to this, giant squids can hover in the water column.

For the main course, cuttlefish and squid weighing 300-600 g and octopus weighing no more than 2-4 kg (they are grilled) are preferred. Prolonged cooking does not improve the taste of the mollusk, so it is better to cut relatively large cephalopods into strips or rings.

For salads, sauces and appetizers, small shellfish are used, which can be cooked whole. They weigh several tens of grams, and the smallest cuttlefish weigh no more than twenty.

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Classmates

Ancestors inkjet ink there was regular ink for writing and drawing. Their history goes back to ancient times.

The Cairo Museum houses an artifact - a writing instrument consisting of an ink bottle, a writing stick and a sand pad that served as blotting paper. About 5 thousand years ago, this device belonged to a court scribe in Ancient Egypt.

During excavations in the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum on the shores of the Gulf of Naples, archaeologists discovered a clay vessel, at the bottom of which there was dried black ink - soot diluted in oil. By the way, a similar recipe for making ink 3000 years ago was used by the Egyptians, who burned the roots aquatic plant papyrus, and the resulting ash was mixed with gum - a glassy mass flowing from damaged wood tissue of cherry or acacia.

Papyrus plant, the roots of which were used to make ink in ancient Egypt

In China, 2.5 thousand years ago, black ink was made from a mixture of soot, plant resin and an alkaline solution. This ink was very thick, so it was applied to the parchment not with feathers, but with brushes. After drying, they were easily separated from the carrier, especially on the folds.

Recipes for ink made from a decoction of green chestnut peels, from ripe berries blueberries and elderberries, from walnut peels.

Chestnut	Blueberry
Black elderberry	Walnut

Plants that were used to make ink in ancient times

One of the ancient Roman recipes prescribed using large quantities of grapes to make ink. Such grapes should be eaten, and the seeds should be collected, dried and burned to obtain soot, which was a natural dye. To give the ink the required viscosity and consistency, the soot was combined and thoroughly mixed with a small amount of vegetable oil. After this, the grape seed ink was ready for use.

Grape seeds - raw materials for ink production

Even ancient people noticed that octopuses and cuttlefish, in a moment of danger, release a camouflage ink bomb from special bags. People began to use the ink liquid of cephalopods for writing and drawing. To do this, bags of ink were removed from the body of octopuses and cuttlefish, dried in the sun, ground into dust, mixed with alkali, heated, treated with sulfuric acid, dried in the sun again and placed under a press. As a result of these manipulations, a dye called sepia was obtained, which is still used to make inks and paints.

Natural sepia was made from the ink sac of octopuses and cuttlefish

But the best black ink was made from round growths on oak leaves - galls. Such growths are formed when the gallworm insect lays its larvae in the leaf tissue. The tree, protecting itself from the invasion of larvae, surrounds them with a dense ring of overgrown shell. In ancient times, it was these growths that were ground into fine dust, infused in water, and glue and glue were added to the resulting mixture. copper sulfate. Such ink had a pleasant shine and looked as if it had just come from the pen of a scribe. Walnut ink had one drawback: for the first 10-12 hours after application it remained completely transparent, and only after some time did it darken and acquire shine.

Growths - galls on oak leaves

For registration religious books Byzantine and Russian scribes made gold and silver ink. To do this, a small pea of ​​molasses was combined with the thinnest gold or silver leaves. The resulting mixture was thoroughly kneaded until smooth and used for writing. Then the honey was carefully washed away, and the elegant golden letters remained. Sweden still has a purple Bible written in silver ink. The age of this “silver” Bible is about 1.5 thousand years.

Bible written in silver ink

In Greece and ancient Rome in the 3rd century. BC. Red royal ink was made from cinnabar and purple. Purple was obtained from the bodies of Brandaris mollusks, which were removed from the shells and placed in salt water, then dried in the sun and boiled. From 10 thousand shellfish, only 1 gram of purple ink was obtained. According to rough calculations, 1 kg of purple ink should have cost 45 thousand gold marks. Red ink under fear death penalty forbidden to be used outside the imperial court. Special guards were assigned to them, who were responsible for the safety of the ink with their own heads.

Bolinus brandaris, from which Ancient Greece and ancient Rome made purple ink

In Rus' there were no such strictures associated with purple ink. They learned to make them from scale insects, which were dried and ground into powder. Red ink was used by Russian scribes to highlight a paragraph, the so-called “red line”. It got its name due to the fact that at the beginning of each section the first letter was painted in red ink in the form of a picture. This made it easier to divide the text into chapters and understand it.

Larvae of the mealybug, from which red ink was made in Rus'

The mystery of ruby, sapphire and mother-of-pearl ink, which is called “gem ink,” has not yet been solved. The recipe for making such ink was kept strictly secret by Mongolian monks.

It is believed that the first printing device to use black ink was Johannes Gutenberg's press, invented in 1456. The press is equipped with removable typefaces depicting letters. From such letters it was possible to form words, phrases and entire sentences. The letters could be used multiple times. They were placed under a press on a sheet of paper and thus impressions were obtained.

Johannes Gutenberg Press

The invention of the press by Johannes Gutenberg greatly accelerated the development of inkjet inks.

In 1460 it was invented printing technology using linseed oil, which made it possible to apply images to metal surfaces. A reliable recipe for linen ink has not survived to this day. It is only known that the main components of such ink were polyoxides and plant pigments.

Several centuries later, vegetable and linseed oils became the main components of ink. This ink was liquid and dried slowly. At the same time, the first ink with the addition of petroleum distillate was produced.

In the 16th century there appeared iron ink, which were made from alder root, walnut or oak bark and ink nuts, set in a vessel with iron fragments. When alder bark was cooked, tannic acids were released from it, which, interacting with iron fragments, produced ferrous iron salts. Fresh ink was pale in color, but as it dried, the iron oxidized and darkened. The resulting prints were light resistant and did not dissolve in water. To give the ink the necessary viscosity and strength, cherry glue (gum), ginger, cloves and alum were added to its composition.

In the 17th century, instead of iron fragments, copper sulfate began to be used in the production of iron ink. This made it possible to speed up the ink production process. Black ink obtained in this way began to be called “good ink” in Rus'.

In 1847, German organic chemist Professor Runge made ink from tropical sandalwood extract. The sap of this tree contains hematoxylin, which when oxidized produces a purple-black pigment. Therefore, the ink developed by Professor Runge had a purple tint.

Professor Runge - inventor of sandalwood ink

In 1870, 414 years after Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, ink was used in the first typewriters. These machines were equipped impact mechanism with lettering and ink ribbon. By striking the tape, the letterers transferred the corresponding ink letters and signs onto the paper. One of the first models of typewriters is shown in the figure below.

One of the first typewriter models

The next stage in the development of ink was the appearance of alizarin ink, which was invented in 1885 by the Saxon teacher Christian Augustan Leongardi. Leonhardi's ink was made from the juice of gall nuts with the addition of crappie from the roots of the oriental madder plant. Madder specks provided the colorless cloudy gall ink with a rich blue-green hue. Later, crappies were replaced with a synthetic dye, and gall nuts with gallic acid. So alizarin ink became completely synthetic and cheaper to manufacture. Even later, a synthetic dye of a beautiful bright purple color was found. Ink made using this dye is called aniline.

A century after the invention of alizarin and aniline inks, the first inkjet printing systems were developed in the late 1970s. In 1976, the first inkjet printer from IBM, the Model 6640, saw the light of day; in 1977, the first inkjet printer rolled off the assembly line of Siemens; in 1978, the development new technology BubbleJet inkjet printing was announced by Canon Corporation, and a little later innovative drop-on-demand inkjet printing technology was introduced by Hewlett Packard.

The first generation of inkjet printers used aqueous ink, consisting of a coloring liquid and water. Water-based ink, due to its uniform consistency and the absence of solid particles, impregnates not only the surface, but also the deep layers of paper. They produce very bright and vibrant prints, much more colorful than pigment inks. The advantage of water-based inks is their cost-effectiveness, the disadvantage is that they are unstable to sunlight and moisture. Such ink quickly fades in the sun and is washed off with plain water. Prints made with water-based ink should be stored in a dry, dark place, preferably in a photo album.

The development of inkjet printing technology has led to the emergence of photo printers designed to print high-quality photographs. These photo printers use pigment ink, which contains water, pigments and special additives. Pigments are microscopic particles solid organic or not organic origin. The size of such particles is 500 times less than the thickness human hair, so they pass freely through the print head nozzles. The advantage of pigment inks is their resistance to sunlight and moisture, the disadvantage is their lack of brightness compared to water-based inks.

Having produced the first pigment inks, manufacturers immediately began to improve their composition. Today, the chemical industry is working to make inkjet inks more realistic and varied in color, reduce droplet size, improve light and moisture resistance, and more.

Inkjet color schemes are expanding. If the first inkjet printers had four-color cartridges with a standard set of CMYK colors (black, yellow, magenta and cyan), today they produce extended CMYK schemes consisting of six, eight and even eleven colors.

Innovative developments in the field of inkjet printing include sympathetic ink, which appear under the influence of ultraviolet light, disappearing ink, which discolor when heated, fluorescent ink that glow in the dark, silver ink, conducting electrical impulses, textile ink, which print excellently on fabric, latex, which contain artificial latex polymers and some other types of inks. These inks represent the future of inkjet printing.

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Ink is one of those everyday things that we hardly use today, but not long ago, ink and ink were found in every home. Apart from the spoken word, ink and ink were the only means for exchanging ideas or preserving information for a long time. The ancient Incas made their ink from vegetable dyes, burnt bones and resin. Today, printer technology has advanced to the point where human organs may soon be printed.

1. Insane cost of printer ink

The ink itself is very inexpensive; you can buy a ballpoint pen for 10 rubles. Each of these pens is capable of writing a line over 3 km long. Fortunately, progress does not stand still and today there is no need, as in the Middle Ages, to write long texts by hand. All you need to do is type the text on your computer and print it out. Many convenient programs have been created to make it easier to edit texts and select fonts, which can be found on the website progoff.com.

However, a printer cartridge currently costs approximately 1,000 rubles. Hewlett Packard, explaining such a high cost of cartridges, points out that the high cost of cartridges is due to the high costs of research and development, quality control, etc.

2. Lemon juice

One of the most popular science experiments for kids is making invisible ink using lemon juice. The juice is squeezed into a bowl, a little water is added to it and then you can write on paper. Once dry, the message disappears and is not visible to the naked eye. But it is enough to hold the papers over a hot light bulb for the hidden writings to appear.

3. Octopus ink

Almost all members of the cephalopod class, which includes octopuses, squids and cuttlefish, can produce their own ink. When a predator approaches, they release a dark cloud of pigment that serves to disorient the enemy. At this time, the cephalopod can escape from danger.

As the name suggests, this substance(which consists mainly of melanin and mucus) has been used by humans for centuries as ink. Some fine dining restaurants still use squid ink as a sort of pasta sauce. Its taste is reminiscent of slightly salty iodine. IN last years Cephalopod ink was found to be effective in treating cancer.

4. Ash

Some of the most ancient inks were made by the Incas from burned bones and ashes.

Mark Gruenwald has worked for Marvel Comics since 1978. He is known for being a writer, artist, and editor of comics such as The Avengers, Captain America, and Thor. Mark was known for his colorful personality, practical jokes and extraordinary actions. He died after a heart attack on August 12, 1996, at the age of 42. Before his death, he wished to be cremated and his ashes mixed with ink that would later be used to print comics.

5. Termites

Termites are incredibly destructive insects. They destroy huge numbers of trees and properties made from wood materials every year. The dietary habits of termites cause billions of dollars in property damage worldwide every year.

In efforts to combat this plague, much information has been analyzed about the behavior of these insects, including their exposure to various pheromones. For example, when termites find food, they leave a trail that smells of special pheromones, which later help them find their way to the food. This trend can be used to control pests using various substances that mimic their pheromones. One of these pheromones is ink from a regular ballpoint pen.

6. Blood

Blood tends to be a pretty bad ink. This is due not only to the rather painful extraction, but also to the fact that the blood tends to oxidize. However, this did not stop some people from using blood as ink. Deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein famously produced a copy of the Koran written in his own blood. Some contemporary artists use blood as a means of self-expression.

Blood as ink is also used as a marketing gimmick. In 1977, when Marvel published the first comic book about the rock band KISS, the blood of the band members was also used to prepare the ink that was used to print it.

7. 3D organs

The first 3D printer appeared about 30 years ago, but only in the last few years has the evolutionary process taken a sharp leap. Today, 3D printers are used all over the world and can create almost anything. There is growing concern that this technology will be used to create weapons.

Soon enough, 3D printers will be able to create something like human skin that can be used for burns, and even human organs. Using cells in a modified ink cartridge, a team from Wake Forest University was even able to grow a two-chambered mouse heart. There are projects to print human organs from one's own stem cells. Mastering this process could save thousands of lives every year.

Currently, the technology certainly has its limitations, and there is still a lack of precision to print repeatable small blood vessels. San Diego-based printing company Organovo is nonetheless offering hope, claiming the first viable human liver will be printed in 2014.

Cephalopods are an integral part of Mediterranean cuisine. This is a low-calorie, dietary meat with a high content of protein and amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins, micro- and macroelements. A distinctive feature of mollusks is a gland that produces a thick, rich black liquid - ink.

Octopuses, squids and cuttlefish are the owners of ink “weapons”: in an effort to protect themselves, in a moment of danger, these mollusks throw out at once almost their entire supply of ink (a substance from the melanin group, similar in composition to the pigment that colors our hair), which can turn the water completely black in a large aquarium.

Today we will talk about squid ink - a tasty, healthy and very original product that will make even an ordinary dish completely special.

History of the original product

Cuttlefish ink has long been used to make a brown paint, named after the mollusks themselves - sepia ("cuttlefish" literally means "legged", and Latin name cuttlefish looks much more harmonious: Sepida).

After they were opened healing properties dark liquid of the ink sac, it began to be used for preparing medicines, for making ordinary ink and, finally, in cooking. In the Mediterranean and Adriatic countries, as well as in Japan, they love to add this unique product to their dishes.

Squid or cuttlefish?

The only significant difference is color: while octopuses have very dark ink, almost black, squids have bluish ink, and cuttlefish have slightly brownish ink. All these inks contain amino acids, taurine and melanin - the same dye that gives ready meals so elegant and amazing view.

Most of the ink you can buy today is actually made from cuttlefish, the squid's closest relative. That's not a big deal: for culinary, not scientific, purposes, they are classified as "squid ink."

Useful properties of squid ink

I must admit, most often we add squid ink to our dishes only for aesthetic purposes. This is the best natural food coloring and seasoning with a unique salty taste reminiscent of the sea. But one should not forget about the beneficial properties of this product.

We have already mentioned that cuttlefish ink is included in some medicines in small doses. Ink helps lower blood cholesterol levels, speeds up metabolism, and also has anti-inflammatory and immunity-boosting properties.

Where to buy ink and what to do with it

Unfortunately, this product is very difficult, almost impossible, to find on supermarket shelves. The only way out is to order squid ink from online stores. Online grocery stores offer cuttlefish ink both in very small packages (for example, 2 packages of 4 grams at a low price) and in jars of 250 grams (1 package costs around 1000 rubles).

The most important thing is to pay attention to the composition of the product when purchasing. The ink should not contain any additives other than salt (otherwise you are buying an artificial black dye).

If you bought this delicacy and are now wondering what to cook with it, here are 3 dishes that should be made black at least once in your life: paella, risotto and spaghetti. You can also make black bread and extremely unusual, delicious sauces with squid ink.

And if you still haven’t found ink, don’t despair, but try buying black spaghetti first: ink is already added to the dough of some ready-made products.

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Ink Cartridges Are A Scam

Subtitles

Okay, here's a story for you. Let's go back ten years; I then worked in the field of telemarketing in a business center, which I will not call the position of “technical support specialist” in the laptop division in a computer company, which I also will not name. Well, you know - this is when you call technical support and at 9 \10 cases you are connected with a person from another country, and neither you nor he can understand each other. That one time in ten happened to me when someone from the USA was able to reach me by phone, and I was able to provide much more assistance. faster help And maybe you noticed - if you've ever had to call technical support - that you spend about a quarter of the entire conversation on fixing the problem itself, and the rest of the time... They're trying to sell you something. This is because they are trained to do so. The company you bought your laptop from needs to sell other products to stay afloat. Often these are expensive computer mice, hard drives “in reserve” antiviruses, because they are easiest to sell to people who are “like you” with a computer In general, they do everything to earn an extra dollar from you, of which you have already spent a lot, while they are fixing your problem . Sounds like I've been through enough, right? We'll get to that too. So, I was sitting at my desk one day, and at this time an irritated customer from Georgia was yelling at me, and then an alert appeared on my screen (the inscription: TODAY WE PUSH EVERYONE PRINTERS) Every couple of weeks, the manufacturer has to get rid of old goods, because new models of products were about to be released to replace them, and our job included pushing these old products to customers at full retail price, without notifying them that these products were about to be discounted. A murky scheme, but that’s the way it is. anyway, the guy from Georgia hung up, and the next moment I was connected to a girl from Nevada who had just one simple question: She just bought herself a laptop and didn’t know how to install it on it. text editor I quickly tell her everything, babbling along the way, so that I can sell something later, and then I find out that she is going to college this year. [ In a secular tone] “INSTITUTE, you say? Well, mademoiselle, do you have a PRINTER at your disposal so that you can print all those ESSAYS AND ESSAYS that you will write a lot and in large volumes?” (well... okay, I didn’t ask her like that) “Oh, I... somehow didn’t realize that I would need a printer” “WELL, right at DAWN I can reserve one for you, and it will be sent and delivered straight to the doorstep of your training quarters the NEXT MORNING!" And, in general, I opened the version of our website for sellers, went to the section with printers. By the way, a little about the page itself: When I, a technical support agent, opened it, two prices appeared in front of me, one red and the other black. The retail price was black: At this price the product had to be sold during the conversation. The red price was the factory price. That is, how much it cost the company to produce this product. I still don't know why we were given the factory price. Maybe it was because the accounting guys and I were using the same version of the site. I-- I don't know, anyway, sorry, I'm getting too distracted. In short, I scroll through all sorts of printer models, along the way explaining which models can do what, and out of the corner of my eye at the very bottom of the screen I notice replaceable cartridges and just drop my jaw. Multi-color cartridges of medium capacity were sold for $59.95, and how much did they cost to produce? At 23 cents! I was shocked. In such shock that I asked the girl from Nevada to wait and called my boss. I pointed my finger at the screen and asked him: “Is this really the factory price?” He quickly glanced at the screen, laughed, then nodded, “Aaaah.” I looked at him incredulously: “But this is pure robbery!” And he replied: “Well, what can we do?” And that brings us to today. Today I will do something. In general, here is a cartridge, inside it there is printer ink - the most expensive liquid in the world, right after poison king cobra, scorpion venom, Chanel No. 5, insulin and mercury. I’ll say right away: I will only criticize inkjet printers, like this one. TO laser printers I won't dig in. This is my mom's printer. About the fifth one I bought this week. (I'm exaggerating) It has two distinctive features: No. 1: its ink cartridges always require replacement and No. 2: it never works. I'm serious, this thing ran full blast for about a minute and then started producing those good old white bars we're all so familiar with. I called technical support myself, and the first question they asked me was: “How long ago did you replace the cartridges?” So let's talk about the great cartridge scam Here's what they look like from the inside. Pretty easy to make, just pieces of plastic, the ink goes in here, but they cost about 50 bucks. They feed us the old good news: “Ink cartridges are so expensive because ink production costs a pretty penny.” According to their reports, HP spends a billion annually on the development of printing technologies, but, in fact, has anything changed during this time? Almost nothing, actually. Like I said, plastic box filled with ink. But in fact, all this technology is hiding here. Have you ever noticed that these (printers) usually cost the same as this (cartridges)? Crazy, right? What if I told you that this is just the business model? You may not know, but most printers are sold at a loss, and the company makes the “missing” money by selling cartridges. This marketing ploy is known as the “Razor and Razor model,” where one item is sold at a low price in order to increase sales of complementary products (which are often short-lived and require constant replacement). In short: “Give them a razor, sell them a razor.” The trick here is: "Give them printers, sell them ink." Raise the price of additional products, and very soon the printer will pay for itself. But in fact, the methods used to win back this cost were not always so noble. Yeah, in general, most ink cartridges are made with a small chip like this. Printer companies like to tell us that the purpose of this thing is to “control the quality of the ink!” "This chip allows you to know when the cartridge runs out of a particular color!" "This chip makes it easy to update firmware for increased performance!" This is all nonsense. The chip is designed to make you spend more money. For example, let's say you run out of blue. The chip will immediately cause the printer to stop working. Even if all the other colors are still there. Until you replace that finished color. But here's the problem: often, the chip says that you are out of ink, although in fact this is not the case. False low ink alerts are very, very common. You can even take the cartridge the next time you have one and perform all sorts of techno-voodoo tricks on it to reset the chip, and then you will find that you still have plenty of ink left. Wow! Imagine if your car's gas tank also had a chip that would cause it to stop working completely until you filled it up again. This would cause the streets to be filled with riots, because the consumer should always have the right to squeeze all the juice out of this baby, and then fill it up when it is convenient, right? What if, like with machines, you refill the cartridges with ink when they run out? Ohohohoho, the chip is also designed to prevent you from doing this. Many companies program their chips to detect if a customer suddenly decides to refill a used cartridge, and these chips - guess what - stop the printer from working completely. In fact, just the previous year, a high-profile lawsuit on this very issue between Impression Products and Lexmark had gone all the way to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court had dismissed the case in favor of Impression Products, upholding the right of consumers to repair and tamper with any products they had purchased. It's stupid that something like this had to make it to the high court, but in the print world, exploitation of customers is the name of the game. For example, did you know that many printers intentionally mix a little blue ink into every black and white document you print? That's right, and while you're thinking "hey, I'll print in non-color so I don't waste the color cartridge" - your printer uses a little color without telling you anything, because that's how it's programmed, plus, as mentioned before, it costs although If one of these cartridges detects a lack of ink, the ENTIRE printer turns off. Oh, but the companies answer is that this drop of color allows you to achieve "deeper blacks." [Voice from far away] "IT'S NOT HOW TO WORK" Oh, and whatever you do, don't try to find a workaround or try to fix the printer if it suddenly breaks, because most manufacturers will void the warranty on their product at that time. the very second you start digging into the insides And believe me, printers break down Over and over and over again Heads get calibrated, dirty, damaged, and generally don’t work right after purchase, and every diagnostic and adjustment you make will waste precious ink there's more and more and more in your cartridges. You literally have to pay to make sure the things you buy work as they should. Well, isn't it wonderful?! Yes, and no matter which manufacturer you choose, all printers suffer from the same problems: Ink is too expensive, it constantly needs replacing, printers constantly have driver problems, wireless printing never works, the interface of each model is complicated as hell ... Personally, I think it's time to say "enough is enough." Stop paying incredible amounts of money for products that cost pennies to produce, products that half the time don’t even work, and in the other half the manufacturer simply prohibits their use in full. Products that change annually. Products that are programmed to stop working, that force customers to buy a new product even though they do not require any repair! Let's take, for example, this miracle. This is my mother's printer. She uses it to type letters. It didn't do a good job, so she went and spent 60 bucks on new cartridges, thinking they were the problem, and after a whole day of struggling and trying to get them installed in it correctly, she tried printing the letter again, but the problem was still there. I found out about this over the phone. Then I drove half an hour to her to pick up the printer and bring it to my place, where I spent the remaining ink in the cartridges on a bunch of tests with vague results, trying to understand why it didn’t print as it should. By that time, I had already found out that the printer had a common, but for some reason incorrigible bug in the hardware. I came to the conclusion that the cheapest way would be to simply replace the printer from the manufacturer, but I CANNOT order a replacement, because the line of models is updated every year, (label: OUT OF STOCK) and therefore I will have to buy a new-and-improved printer and I also cannot use cartridges from the old printer in this new-and-improved one, because the new-and-improved printer uses a completely different type cartridges, so I had to spend another 50 bucks on new-and-improved cartridges. (which, as it turns out, just have a slightly longer body on one side) and by the time I upgraded-and-improved everything, I discovered that the new-and-improved printer drivers were incompatible with my mom's computer, and I had to go to confusing manufacturer's website and use their program (which doesn't work) to try to find a driver that WILL be compatible, and in order to manually find a compatible driver, you had to find out if she was using a 32-bit version of the OS or a 64-bit, and , as many have probably realized, moms rarely have answers to questions like these, so by the time we solved THIS issue and managed to get the printer working, we were left with one obvious question: Why is this still such a problem? in the 21st century? We launched a fucking MACHINE into SPACE. I've been waiting for this for a long time... [Exhale with satisfaction] That's better. We can fix this, friends. Together. Share this video today and start a revolution. Let these manufacturers know that enough is enough, we want affordable ink, we want printers that work, and we want printers that last. I think I scratched my cheek. Thanks to these folks at Patreon for their continued support Looking for similar content? Then...keep looking. x s

Ink requirements

The following basic requirements apply to ink:

1. good wetting ability and adhesion in relation to the material of the writing unit of the writing instrument used and to the material on which to write (in the absence of adhesion and wettability, the ink does not stick to the writing unit and the latter cannot leave an ink mark when trying to write on a non-wettable material, such as plastic, the ink trace collects in separate drops, which are easily smeared and crumble when dry);
2. saturation and color fastness for a long time at normal conditions storage (for example, some types of ink produced on the basis of chemical dyes in late XIX- early 20th centuries quickly faded in the light);
3. moderate spreadability and absorption of ink in relation to the material on which they write (for example, it is almost impossible to write on filter paper with ink for fountain pens due to blurring of strokes, but with ink for gel and ballpoint pens it is quite possible);
4. moderate speed of ink drying in air on the writing unit and in open inkwells;
5. the viscosity-fluidity of the ink must correspond to the ink supply rate that is structurally built into the writing unit of the writing instrument (excessive supply with increased fluidity can lead to the appearance of blots even when writing with thick ballpoint paste and, on the contrary, insufficient supply of too thick ink leads to gaps when writing with a roller or pen);
6. relative cheapness, availability and safety of components and finished inks.

Additional ink requirements may apply:

1. increased water resistance or resistance to certain solvents;
2. increased adhesion to certain materials;
3. increased heat, light and frost resistance;
4. the content of any identification and marker components;
5. the ability to mix different colors of the same type of ink to obtain a given shade

The list of possible additional requirements is not limited to the above requirements.

Ink composition

Any ink contains the following main components:

1. solvent or dispersed medium in the case of pigment inks;
2. coloring matter (pigment in the case of pigment inks);
3. modifiers (for example, viscosity, wettability, durability, preservatives, surfactants, etc.).

The following chemicals may be used to make writing ink:

• Solvents:
  • Glycerin (also serves as a viscosity and drying rate modifier);
• Dyes:
• Viscosity and drying rate modifiers
  • Polyhydric alcohols such as Isopropyl alcohol and Glycerin (viscosity and drying rate modifiers)
• Other modifiers
  • Siligalmin
• Preservatives
  • Sulfacylin (preservative)
  • Ethanol (also solvent)
  • Oxalic acid (also wettability modifier)

Naturally, the components used in ink are not limited to the presented names of substances.

Ink packaging

Since ink is a coloring liquid, containers are used for packaging ink that do not interact with the ink itself and are resistant to influences unfavorable factors environment. Initially, ceramic and metal vessels were used to store ink. Vessels made of dense, non-porous glazed ceramic were used for permanent storage of ink, since ceramic vessels break easily. Metal containers were used in the form of vials and inkwells in “camping” conditions, and its widespread use was hampered by the high cost of metal products and the interaction of ink components with metal.

With the spread of glass products in everyday life, ink began to be poured into glass containers. In the USSR, ink was packaged in glass vials. Branded foreign manufacturers still package ink in glass vials, which are sometimes exclusive designer works. Modern Russian manufacturers pack their ink in bubbles made of high-density polyethylene and PVC.

A revolutionary step in ink packaging methods was the invention of fountain pens. In fountain pens, ink was first stored in special cavities/containers, which were sometimes an important part of the fountain pen mechanism. Subsequently, glass, metal and, finally, polyethylene ink cartridges appeared. Thus, thanks to the improvement of packaging methods and ink storage systems, maintaining permanent records has become possible not only in places specially equipped for writing, but also in “offline” mode.

The next step in improving ink packaging became possible with the advent of the ballpoint ink unit. The ballpoint writing unit required the appearance of thicker ink that was not prone to leaking through the technological gaps of the ballpoint unit. This also made it possible to pack high-viscosity ink into simple polyethylene tubes-rods. However, increasing the ink viscosity turned out to be a dead end when increasing the capacity of the refills and required more pressure on the writing instrument, which led to increased fatigue during long-term writing. Both of these problems were solved with the invention of "solid" gel inks. Thanks to the characteristic features of the gels, the diameter of the rods was increased to 4-5 mm, and the balls of ballpoint writing units became porous to achieve greater brightness and expressiveness of notes.

By the end of the 20th century, the advantages of fountain pens (lightness, smoothness of writing and a large volume of ink) were combined with a ballpoint writing unit, and thus rollerball pens refilled with ink for fountain pens appeared.

By the beginning of the 21st century, the idea of ​​refills had penetrated the fountain pen industry. Pentel was the first company in the world to begin producing such replacement refills for its own pens with a plastic nib. In 2011, Parker released "Parker Ingenuity Pens: The 5TH Mode" also with a replaceable plastic nib on a replaceable shaft.

The historical and geographic “isolation” of some manufacturers, and more often the marketing policies of some manufacturers, have led to the fact that several standards for the sizes of ink cartridges and refills have actually emerged. Summary data on different cartridge sizes is given in the block of plates on the right.

Types of ink and their classification

Types of ink are most fully determined by their purpose, since each possible application and technical devices used for their application impose their own, sometimes unique, requirements on the properties and composition of the ink.

Ink for writing with pens

Pen ink is the ancestor of all modern inks. Manufactured on a water basis using extracts and dispersions of coloring components natural origin and/or ordinary soot. The most famous are ink based on soot, based on oak ink nuts and ink based on ink mushroom.

Ink for writing with regular quills (not fountain pens) usually has a slightly thicker consistency and a more saturated color and is closer in texture to ink. Due to the presence of dispersed and multifunctional organic components, pen inks are generally more water resistant than fountain pen inks.

Ink for writing with pens is still used when drawing up especially important documents. This is partly due to the fact that marker components can be added to such ink, used as one of the degrees of document protection.

Ink for fountain pens

Later, due to the fact that the capillary supply system of fountain pens easily became clogged with suspended particles, they began to use more liquid ink containing the coloring matter exclusively in dissolved form.

The next step, making the process of refilling the pen faster and cleaner, was packaging the ink into ink cartridges. Initially, they tried to make cartridges from metal and glass, but such cartridges were more complex and expensive to manufacture, and glass ones were also fragile. An additional disadvantage was that the hardness of the cartridge material was higher than the hardness of the plastic in the cartridge seat, which led to the rapid breaking of the cartridge seat and the appearance of ink leaks. Modern cartridges are made of polyethylene, softer than the material of the fountain pen itself.

Fountain pen inks are typically water-based or water-glycerin based, which means they are typically the least water-resistant of all other ink types. Nevertheless, so-called “permanent” or “registration” inks, which are insoluble in water and based on moderately volatile organic solvents, are also produced for fountain pens.

Due to the non-zero vapor permeability of polyethylene, the ink in cartridges dries out over time, which is why they are initially made more liquid than ink in bottles.

Ink for fountain pens in Russia

In the USSR, starting from 1967, ink for fountain pens was produced under the brands “Raduga” and “Raduga-2” in accordance with GOST 6-15-78-73. In Russia for 2015 trademark"Rainbow" ink belongs to JSC "GAMMA". Current regional Russian ink manufacturers are also mainly based on the recipe from the Soviet GOST. On this moment domestic inks are represented by at least three manufacturers, including pigment ones, and often surpass imported ones in quality and color purity, at a price up to 10 times lower.

Rainbow ink was based on acidic synthetic dyes. The ink was produced in 5 primary colors: black, blue, purple, green, red. Initially, the ink was produced in two modifications, differing in the main modifier of viscosity, wettability and drying speed: winter with ethylene glycol as a modifier and summer with glycerin. As of 2015, winter versions of Rainbow ink are not produced in Russia [ ] .

A certain share of the ink market in modern Russia (as of 2015) is occupied by blue-violet ink of the “Quink” brand from Parker Pen Company.

In some Russian stores you can find ink from some branded global manufacturers (Waterman, Montblanc, Caran-D’Ache, etc.). However, according to observations from 2008-2012, Russian buyers, when purchasing branded inks and inks of non-standard colors, preferred to use foreign online stores that provide a better assortment and noticeably lower prices (and, interestingly, including delivery!) than Russian ones the shops . [ ] The devaluation of the ruble and customs restrictions in 2014-2015 significantly affected this practice.

In Russia, due to the limited range of available types and colors of ink in general and ink in cartridges in particular, their unpredictable viscosity or fluidity, as well as due to the supposed (by analogy with tea bags) worse quality of cartridge ink and smaller converter volume compared to cartridge, the practice of reusing ink cartridge bodies with syringe filling of cartridges with ink from large-capacity bottles or ink mixtures has developed different colors and storing refilled cartridges in special cassette holders.

Ink for gel pens

Ink for ballpoint pens

Ink for ballpoint pens is made in the form of thick pastes on a wax-fat basis. As a rule, such a paste contains a fat-dissolved dye, less often a suspension of pigment, which, when writing, is continuously smeared and applied to the ball, leaving an imprint of an ink trace on the paper.

Due to the presence of a fatty base, such ink contains the minimum possible amount of organic solvent.

During long-term storage (over 10 years), the fatty base of such ink slowly penetrates into the thickness of the paper, taking the dye along with it. As a result of this process, the ink trail blurs and becomes paler, but at the same time it begins to appear on the back of the sheet of paper.

Ink for capillary pens

Capillary pens were a natural continuation of the development of the idea of ​​a felt-tip pen. Accordingly, they are equipped with similar alcohol-soluble, and often water-soluble liquid ink, which is supplied to the writing unit through a capillary system formed by polyester fiber.

Ink for brush pens

Original ink can only be purchased with a cartridge. The design of the cartridges is the fruit of many years of research work by the printer manufacturer. The idea is to securely hold and store the ink inside the cartridge, and print at the required speed. For this, not only the geometric parameters of the cartridges and the physical properties of the materials are important, but also strictly defined physico-chemical