Some would call this smart marketing. I call it theft by deception.
Sell the printer as a loss leader (I absoluelty gaurntee that it costs more than $24 to make this printer), then make your profit on the first ink cartridge sale.
I will bet any amount of money that the ink cartridge is a 'special design' that can't be purchased from a discount cartridge supplier.

I can't pinpoint exactly when it happened.
But there used to be a time when proud craftsmen made the best quality product they could, and sold it for a reasonable profit.
Then the thieves took over.
Faceless, irresponsible investors formed corporations to hide behind, and began cranking out the cheapest possible trash they could produce, and using deceptive advertising to sell it for grossly inflated prices.

Is this a great country (for thieves), or what?