When Sneak heard about HP's new Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, he was irresistibly reminded of an old apocryphal IT support story, which goes something like this:

A support technician receives a call from a buyer who cannot get their printer to work. After going through an exhaustive checklist, including checking whether the guy has ink in the printer, if it is loaded with paper, if the printer is turned on, etc, he finally asks the customer to check if the cable is securely connected to the computer.

"Oh, I haven't got a computer, just a printer," he chirps.

Well, all jokes eventually come true, as it is now possible to have a printer and print stuff directly from the web, without the need to turn on your PC.

The Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web has a touch-screen, so that users can link to online content, such as photos, and print it. Downloadable applications will allow you to buy cinema tickets and print them, again without needing a PC.

However, Sneak is at a loss to find any of these scenarios where it wouldn't be simpler just to do this via the web from your PC, and then print it off using any old printer that doesn't set you back $399 (£244). Or are we missing something?