Stage6

The Laser Printer

In 1971, the Xerox Corporation developed laser technology. In a laser printer, the content to be printed is generated by electronic processes and printed directly onto the sheet of paper. To be more precise, the laser transfers the image to a photosensitive selenium cylinder (called a “drum”) and from there, using toner, it’s directly applied to the paper. With this system, it’s possible to print around 20,000 lines a minute. Record breaking. But more importantly, from this point on, anyone could print whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, in their office or home.

Bulky, complicated and very expensive, the first laser printers were quite different from those we’re used to today. And we had to wait until 1982 for the first desktop laser printer to be released by Canon. However, its high cost meant few could afford one. It wasn’t until the beginning of the 1990s that laser printers became widely accessible to the public, along with inkjet, dot matrix and dye-sublimation printers. Ever since, printers have become ever cheaper, more compact and efficient.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *