Essential Guide to Computing: The Story of Information Technology, The

Printers

Printed output seems like an old fashioned technology, but the truth is that printed material has enormous flexibility and many advantages over computer monitors. It's still a heck of a lot more convenient, for example, to take a book or two to the beach or even to bed than to take a laptop. That may change, perhaps in the near future, but in the meantime printing is doing well. Like monitors, printers have improved in resolution (the level of detail in an image) and in price. They are also much faster than in the past. The big challenge in the printer market is color. Laser technologies, which offer the best combination of speed, resolution, and price for monochrome output, have been slow in offering reasonably priced color output. ...