Guten: A Tiny Newspaper Printer

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Comparisons & Prior Art

  • Many compare Guten to the earlier “Little Printer” and note that similar receipt-style news printers have been built multiple times.
  • Several share their own related projects: daily scripts feeding receipt printers, dot-matrix “daily news,” screenless-office concepts, roll-call/task lists, and tabletop-RPG-focused thermal printer tools.
  • Some see Guten as a physical analog to devices like Tidbyt: small, ambient, configurable information surfaces.

Appeal & Use Cases

  • Strong appeal for starting the day on paper instead of a glowing screen, with some arguing screens themselves are a core tech problem.
  • Suggested uses: news digests, weather, quotes, sudoku and puzzles, recipes, to-do lists, financial summaries (yesterday’s spending), journaling stickers, and occasional “Sunday newspaper” style bundles.
  • Several want modular content selection and an API or “developer-friendly” interface; others note it’s easy to script output to commodity receipt printers.

Hardware & Implementation Ideas

  • Interest in “bring your own printer” using CUPS or ESC/POS-compatible receipt printers.
  • Alternatives proposed: impact/dot-matrix printers (including modern POS models), pen plotters, label printers, and even vintage-style teletype tape.
  • Some highlight cheap second-hand thermal and impact printers from retail/restaurant environments.

Thermal Paper: Health & Environmental Concerns

  • Multiple comments stress that common thermal paper contains BPA/BPS, described as endocrine disruptors that can transfer via skin contact.
  • Links are shared to studies and regulators; mention that some workers now wear gloves for receipts.
  • Others point out BPA-free, phenol-free, or vitamin C–based thermal papers, with EU regulations pushing away from BPA. Counterpoint: substitutes like BPS may be similarly harmful, and durability can be worse.
  • Some are uneasy enough to avoid thermal-print projects entirely; others consider occasional personal use negligible and view opposition as over-optimization.

Waste, Business Viability & Alternatives

  • Debate over wastefulness: daily disposable slips feel excessive to some, while others argue modest paper use for enjoyment is acceptable.
  • Distinction drawn between a personal hobby device and scaling a commercial product whose business model encourages ongoing paper consumption.
  • Skepticism about paying for such a device when newspapers, home/office printers, libraries, or online-only options already exist.
  • Several suggest the real value may lie in content aggregation services rather than selling proprietary hardware.