Cannon short changing me!!!!

eleanora_

How long printer ink will last depends on the intensity of the colours in your prints, the amount of black/colours you are using, your printer settings etc. etc. I'm inclined to believe that the "(for 36 prints)" relates to the number of sheets, not the ink - there's no way to get a truly accurate prediction of how many prints you'll get from an ink cartridge, as it depends on too many variables.

Nilrem

Aye, the set might do 36 prints on average, but if you're printing out pictures of a beautiful blue see with a nice blue sky the chances are it's going to run out of blue fairly fast compared to a more varied set of pictures (one of the reasons I tend to recommend printers with 4-7+ individual carts, as that way you only have to replace the colour that has actually run out).

I'd guess the pack is for 36 average prints, with 36 sheets of paper and carts that are probably able to do something like 400-500 prints at the industry standard tests (5% coverage for each colour from memory).
I've never known any printer company guarantee that any consumable they do will last "exactly" a set number of prints (well other than for printer paper).