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IBM's 'LaserWriter E', a low-end laser printer, turned out to be exactly the same piece of equipment as their high-end 'LaserWriter' - except that there was an additional chip in the cheaper version to slow it down. The most effective way for IBM to price-target their printers was to design and mass-produce a single printer, then sell it at two prices. But of course to get anyone to buy the expensive printer they had to slow down the cheap one. It seems wasteful, but presumably it was cheaper for IBM to do this than design and manufacture two completely different printers.