All analogies are imperfect, as is mine, though I would hesitate to say that it could be considered to be one of the worst. I would agree with other opinions which point out that it's more of a co-operative club run by and for the benefit of the members.
I disagree with your point about the the UK not asking to ship things to Poland or Slovakia or France. This is just plain wrong. Of course we are asking to do these things. In fact I have personal experience of this, as we actually do ship things from the UK to Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the EU. I now have to fill out custom forms and get approval before I can do this. Most bizarrely, I have to do it if I want to ship from where we are in Liverpool (in the UK) to Belfast (also in the UK). I have to get a permit to go into the county of Kent if I want to send a vehicle through the Channel Tunnel to France (£300 fine if I don't). I sometimes think that I have fallen into a dystopian parallel universe.
You are correct that NI and the Republic have a long and ingrained relationship, but the separation between them was largely removed only quite recently by the Good Friday Agreement which has brought relative peace to the region. It has everything to do with the EU because the EU were sensible enough to not countenance the re-imposition of a border between Northern and Southern Ireland and so an agreement (the Northern Ireland Protocol) was agreed between the EU and the UK which puts the border relatively speaking in the Irish Sea. So Northern Ireland is still effectively in the EU customs union and single market. If you think that's complicated, we haven't even started yet :) I'm not surprised you're tired.
As far as the EU is concerned, I don't think that many people in mainland Europe really care that much. They have much more interesting things to do. Those that do care think we're a bit stupid. The EU project will carry on quite happily without the UK. I don't see much evidence of rejoicing on the part of Europeans. Also, quite a few Europeans don't have a terribly high opinion of the EU and certainly don't see it as a Nirvana; and the UK will not be marching to hell. Things are getting more expensive and some opportunities have diminished, but it's not an Armageddon as some would have you believe. Leaving the EU was rather pointless, that's all :|
The UK was in a single market and a customs union which it decided to leave. For those international readers not familiar with what's gone on, here's an analogy. You're in a gym club. You pay a fee. And there are membership rules. You get to use the machines and pool for free. You meet other members and have watercooler chats. There's a doorman who stops undesirable visitors. You get a vote to decide on the way in which the club runs.
Then you decide that being in the club isn't for you any more. So you leave.
And you don't have to pay the membership fee. But you can't use the machines or pool any more. or have any other benefits that you had as a member.
Most people would agree that is reasonable.
The UK left the biggest free market and customs union group in the world and asked to be treated like any other country not in the EU.
The EU has done nothing more than accede to the UK's wishes to leave the EU. It seems that some people who voted the UK's departure from the UK actually had little idea what that meant in practical terms and are now complaining about the loss of their membership benefits.
Well, I bought a cast iron skillet about 40 years ago at a local department store (remember them?). Can't remember seasoning it, but probably did way back in the day. I just wash it out with hot water and a bit of liquid soap and a scourer to remove the occasional bits. As good as teflon, cheaper and less poisonous. My favourite pan. I think the main thing is to use it a lot, and don't overclean it. The type of oil seems not to have mattered much, but it's mainly olive, sunflower or rapeseed. As always YMMV.
A good point. However, if, for example, the quality of the output is poor, I think that most people would not be sufficiently technically informed enough to be able to point to the printer head as the source the problem. Even if they do, there may well not be a brand sticker on the printer head. To most observers, then, it would be the printer that was faulty. Most printer manufacturers are protective of their brand images and don't want negative associations with that brand. Reasonable enough, as far as I can see. Let's face it, most branded ink or toner is expensive irrespective of brand. The best way of reducing printings costs? Probably just print less.
I'm not sure that approach would be sustainable. Printer manufacturers are in the business of loss leading as far as I can see. They probably don't make any significant profit on the printer itself, judging by what I've paid for printers in the last few years. The price of the printer is subsidised by the projected profits from the ink/toner. And they are not insignificant, I agree. But in the current market, selling printers at an unsubsidised price probably won't work commercially. We've gotten used to cheap printers and expensive ink/toner I guess and it's difficult to come off them. There'[s no such thing as a free lunch etc..
I don't want to be an apologist for HP or any other printer manufacturer, but there is at least one point that seems to be missed in this debate. If I design a printer, whether inkjet or any other type, I probably design it to some pretty tight tolerances in terms of the ink or toner. So I probably don't want people to drop in cartridges where the manufacturing tolerances might be way off the mark as they might well cause issues with the performance. That I as the manufacturer might be asked to fix, also possibly gaining a reputation for poor quality in the process. Yes, you might reasonably point out that OEM cartridges are expensive, but it's far from a monopoly out there, isn't it? In some ways, the expense of printing could be considered to be a good thing. Because it's a disincentive to the production of waste paper. Just my 2 cents worth :)
I disagree with your point about the the UK not asking to ship things to Poland or Slovakia or France. This is just plain wrong. Of course we are asking to do these things. In fact I have personal experience of this, as we actually do ship things from the UK to Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the EU. I now have to fill out custom forms and get approval before I can do this. Most bizarrely, I have to do it if I want to ship from where we are in Liverpool (in the UK) to Belfast (also in the UK). I have to get a permit to go into the county of Kent if I want to send a vehicle through the Channel Tunnel to France (£300 fine if I don't). I sometimes think that I have fallen into a dystopian parallel universe.
You are correct that NI and the Republic have a long and ingrained relationship, but the separation between them was largely removed only quite recently by the Good Friday Agreement which has brought relative peace to the region. It has everything to do with the EU because the EU were sensible enough to not countenance the re-imposition of a border between Northern and Southern Ireland and so an agreement (the Northern Ireland Protocol) was agreed between the EU and the UK which puts the border relatively speaking in the Irish Sea. So Northern Ireland is still effectively in the EU customs union and single market. If you think that's complicated, we haven't even started yet :) I'm not surprised you're tired.
As far as the EU is concerned, I don't think that many people in mainland Europe really care that much. They have much more interesting things to do. Those that do care think we're a bit stupid. The EU project will carry on quite happily without the UK. I don't see much evidence of rejoicing on the part of Europeans. Also, quite a few Europeans don't have a terribly high opinion of the EU and certainly don't see it as a Nirvana; and the UK will not be marching to hell. Things are getting more expensive and some opportunities have diminished, but it's not an Armageddon as some would have you believe. Leaving the EU was rather pointless, that's all :|