Printer peculiarities

Image via WikipediaAm I alone in wondering at the manufacturers of printers? They seem to delight in providing as many different ink cartridges as they can design, usually only half-filling them and pricing them so high that they frequently cost more than the printer they serve. And why is it that when I'm printing a completely black document, with no hint of colour, that the colour cartridges empty along with the black one? The printer gets all uppity when I dare to replace the overpriced manufacturer's cartridges with cheaper, fuller generic cartridges and warns me that my warranty will be invalid. I don't care, of course, because the warranty ran out ages ago. But the printer then makes it as difficult as it can for me to do a straightforward task, putting on a juvenile sulk because I've rejected the offerings of its parent company and used more productive offspring instead.
There was a time when the customer's wants and needs were important to the manufacturer and retailer of goods. With the coming of the computer age, we seem to have fallen into a strange land where the seller holds all the aces and wants to rule the habits and choices of the customer. Perhaps it's time for all of us to let each other know when we come across a computer product or peripheral that actually gives the user free choice. We can then all buy these and increase their sales at the expense of those arrogant suppliers who want to dictate to us. What do you think?