Good to have another data point. However, more than any other Consulate in the USA, NYC changes its requirements abruptly and without notice. For years, it has had a pattern of doing this. Even the local NY visa agents often get caught flat-footed. At the time I wrote my post which you quote, best information at hand was that NY Consulate was accepting hand-filled in printouts of the new form. I suspect that fairly recently, NY decided to change gears without notice, and the poor soul who likely filled out the form by hand per Wednesday's rule, showed up Thursday only to find the rules had changed. I'd be p!ssed off, too.

I can predict that at some point, the other Consulates will also want this form filled in by computer then printed, so check first with the Consulate of your choice (or an agent serving that Consulate). It would be nice if the Senior Consular official at the Chinese Embassy in DC would put his/her foot down and say One Form, One Standard Fill-in Policy for the entire USA regardless of location. But that would make too much sense.