In article , Shlomo Baumgard
wrote:

what's a kludge is what mac and windows do, with hundreds of different
printer drivers. eliminating that nonsense an advancement.

You seem to understand the Apple/Android printing model.

as well as the mac/windows printing model.

On the one hand, on Windows/Linux/Mac, each *printer* has its own
driver (although so-called "universal" drivers do exist), and, once
you install that specific printer-specific driver, then *any* app,
that can display the document on the computer, can then print that
document, to that printer.

that hasn't changed. *any* app can print to *any* airprint/cloudprint
printer.

the difference is that now you don't have to install printer drivers at
all. it's a step forward.

As long as the printer is "on the network" (wired or wireless),
you can then print the document to that printer.

that's still the same, other than the wired part. dealing with wires is
old-school.

I don't fully understand Android/iOS (except that, for the most
part, they don't work), but you seem to understand their model
better than I do.

they work quite well.

Are you saying that, on Android/iOS, there is a single printer
driver, which is the "cloud"?

And then, from the cloud, you print, wired or wirelessly, to
the printer?

printers are connected wirelessly, usually on a local network.

from the app, pick print in the app and print whatever you want. no
need to worry about drivers. it 'just works'.

older printers only need an airprint/cloudprint server on the network
which can be software running on a computer or a hardware box.

it's definitely not a kludge.