Term for cheap print?

[apetitphoto]

I remember Okidata dot matrix printers were the rage in the '80s, if anyone can remember that far back past the fog weed.

Yep. But I owned an epson mx80.

 

[PalaDolphin]

some ink writing technology actually is pretty old - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphon_recorder - shortly after the big bang - or with Siemens after WWII - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rune_Elmqvist, and a pretty first real printer (drop on demand with piezo elements ) in 1977 was a Siemens PT88i with 12 nozzles.......

There were submarines in 1867?

 

[Roy Sletcher]

There were submarines in 1867?

... better known as submersible coffins. Ask Mr Hunley.

http://www.history.com/news/the-hunleys-daring-submarine-mission-150-years-ago

as a small time history buff I find this fascinating.

rs

 

[PalaDolphin]

Yep. But I owned an epson mx80.

It seems like at one point every auto repair shop printed their invoices on NCR forms on Okidata or Epson dot matrix printers. I worked for a small computer store in college in Costa Mesa, CA, Computer Baron, in the mid '80s where half of our work was replacing print heads in Epson, Okidata, and other similar dot matrix printers. Those were workhorse printers that kept going and going. They could always do something that laser printers and inkjets can't: print on custom NCR forms.

 

[PalaDolphin]

... better known as submersible coffins. Ask Mr Hunley.

http://www.history.com/news/the-hunleys-daring-submarine-mission-150-years-ago

The Hunt for Brown October?

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Nice thing about historical facts, everybody has their own version.

My first recollection (Yes I am that old and lived through it) was the that the first commercial inkjet style printer was the Iris printer. A large-format color inkjet type printer introduced around 1985 by Iris Graphics in Massachusetts. It was rapidly adapted for prepress proofing by the commercial printing industry. Each unit when installed cost well over $100K of 1985 dollars. Even at that price we used them as a a cheaper alternative to the then traditional on-press progressive proofing system. Their devedlopment and value was rapidly overtaken by the advancing digital revolution leading to HP, Epson and Canon. The rest, is as they say, history.

Given that the above is largely from memory I am open to correction.

rs

 

[Roy Sletcher]

It seems like at one point every auto repair shop printed their invoices on NCR forms on Okidata or Epson dot matrix printers. I worked for a small computer store in college in Costa Mesa, CA, Computer Baron, in the mid '80s where half of our work was replacing print heads in Epson, Okidata, and other similar dot matrix printers. Those were workhorse printers that kept going and going. They could always do something that laser printers and inkjets can't: print on custom NCR forms.

Those were tha days! The laser printer combined with digital imaging evenually finished off the NCR forms business. Large printing companies specialising in this product range vanished overnight. A few remain to service a fraction of the volume that existed 30 years ago.

Eastman Kodak and others were caught up in the carnage of the era. Mainly those clinging to outdated concepts and unable to adapt to the new technology.

Now where did I park my driverless car.

The anciant mariner's got it right: "Time and tide wait for no man."

rs

 

[The Hat]

Now where did I park my driverless car.

It went back to the garage itself, because it dinted the fender when you tried to take back control...

 

[RogerB]

It seems like at one point every auto repair shop printed their invoices on NCR forms on Okidata or Epson dot matrix printers. I worked for a small computer store in college in Costa Mesa, CA, Computer Baron, in the mid '80s where half of our work was replacing print heads in Epson, Okidata, and other similar dot matrix printers. Those were workhorse printers that kept going and going. They could always do something that laser printers and inkjets can't: print on custom NCR forms.

My first "real" job after grad/post-grad studies was with NCR (National Cash Registers) in 1971. My job was to analyse and optimise the print head to achieve the maximum number of readable copies on NCR paper. If memory serves me right we managed eight without causing the print head to melt! Interesting work until NCR pulled the plug on the European development operation, right after their bumper year with the UK change to decimal currency. So much for job security.

 

[The Hat]

I also worked with NCR on their carbonless papers and found the maximum number of sheets that worked together were four, after that they because illegible, a lot of companies are still using the dot-matrix today but only in triplicate...