I bought a receipt printer in 2026

I found a receipt printer at a thrift store for $22

It was an impulse buy. An old Epson TM-T88IV thermal printer, the kind you see at every retail checkout. I had no idea what I'd do with it, but for $22, I figured I'd find something.

A few weeks later, the idea snapped into focus while I was doom-scrolling. A few tweets collided in my feed, one from a dev who routes every new GitHub issue to a thermal printer so the machine literally coughs up bugs. Another from a PM who prints her daily tasks just so she can savagely crumple each finished task. Paper doesn’t vanish into nothingness It lands, it rustles, it demands to be touched, folded, or ceremoniously trashed.

What if anyone in the world could send me a physical note that prints out in my office?

Ping Spencer connects a web interface to my Raspberry Pi Zero 2, which drives the thermal printer. Anyone can visit the site and send a message, photo, or doodle that prints out wherever I am. It's delightfully absurd and surprisingly meaningful when friends actually use it.

Remote Thermal Printer Messaging System

A multi-interface messaging platform that lets anyone send text, photos, or drawings directly to Spencer's Epson TM-T88IV thermal receipt printer via web, voice, or API.

Hardware meets software

From novelty to network

The single-printer setup works. But what if it wasn't just my printer?

In a world that is getting endlessly digital, there's something powerful about physical permanence. A printed message can't be swiped away or lost in an inbox.