How Stuff Works - Research Paper Example

The History and Development of Printers The history and development of printers Coming up with a print out of documents is alwaysthe ultimate thought of anybody who uses a computer system in creating a file. Though, it may look very simple by just connecting the cables, which interlinks a computer and the printer then igniting the powers source to come up with a fully produced document at hand. However, a lot of time has been taken involving different sequential, impediments use of technology in getting the best, faster and latest printout (How stuff works, 2013).

The computer printer which is available in almost every homestead has taken engineer and designers almost a century to adjust availability to all the potential users who may need them for the daily production of documents (How stuff works, 2013). Immediately after the manual manuscripts were faced off in 1929, the use of punch cards came into existence, and this led to the development of impact character printers like the dot matrix. However, due to the technological revolution, better shaped printer known as Xerox was invented by Chester Carlson in the year 1938.

This invention created provisions to the development of the modern lesser printer that are otherwise considered as the latest sophisticated type of printers in the current market. By 1953, Remington Rand facilitated the development of a propounded dot-matrix type of printer, which was found to be more compatible with UNIVAC type of the computer system. However, this was seconded by IBM, who carried out modification to this development (How stuff works, 2013). Later by the year 1971, Xerox engineer Garry brought the use of paper copping technology, by introducing beams to the already existing printing technology.

From that duration onwards, many printer designs were now in existence until 1977 when the first original 9700 PARC EARS was customized to allow for paper customization such as formats, sizes and page layouts. During such time, very minimal changes took place with much development on the paper work rather than the printing technology. Conversely, by 1984, one of the most popular companies Hewlett Packard came up with a much modified lesser printer termed as 300dpi, and this did not take long before Apple followed suit.

The innovation and invention became a common issue within the society such that inkjets computers, which also part of printing technological revolution was reduced to domestic machine in homes. This has been evidenced by numerous productions of such computers by companies like cannon, Hp and the rest of other firms. Finally, the latest printing technology employs toner based printers, which uses xerographic technology where by the image is scanned by a beam of light to the photoreceptor before it is finally produced.

These types of printers are known for quality printouts and promising speed in terms of production. They are also available both in a variety of shades and monochrome (How stuff works, 2013). As long as paperless technology is embraced by many in the society, printers still play vital importance in area where boarding passes are required as sign of evidence to show an indication that payment has been made. Moreover, printers play a role to the design of printouts and labels, which must be produced in hard copies before they are fastened on the respective on respective public places for maximum visibility.

With respect to production of such documents, at work is necessary. In addition, some documents such as invoices and reports that require confirmatory sings of authenticity are much better when printed out as compared to use of electronic copies (How stuff works, 2013). Printers have been classified into several categories but the most common broad based categories include; lesser printers, inkjet printers and dot matrix printer. Lesser printers use a beam of laser rays with the aid of photoreceptor to produces images.

The use of this technology was developed after the copier machines, which were realized to have capability of printing the whole surface of image at once. Most of these machines are very bulky and are best used in offices. The second classification is an inkjets printer that makes images on the surface of paper through the squirting technology. They contain sharp needle-like projections, which sprays inks on the paper or plate surfaces to form images. They are considered to be very fast in terms of printing speed and the size of an inkjet printer ranges from very simple domestic to professional models costing a lot of money.

Ultimately, dot-matrix is oldest forms of printers but some of them have since been maintained by very few organization. This type of printers uses a letter head made of tinny metal rod striking paper against a ribbon to produce an image. This type of printer has the potential to produce carbon and carbon less copies. They are usually associated with a printing problem especially in the production of documents such as invoices (How stuff, works 2013). In conclusion, it is good to note that printing technology has evolved through a number of years to get to the current setting.

Moreover, each and every type of printer is appropriately designed for a specific task. Finally, it has been realized that printing the use of printers must run concurrently with the paperless technology (How stuff works 2013). References: HSW. (2013). How stuff works. Retrieved on 25th October 2013.