This post was originally conceived as being a discussion about the disconnect between the dream of replacing paper with pixels and the resulting eco-savings and the reality of reams of used multipurpose paper products ending up in third-world landfills.
At least, that was my intention; however, as Philp José Farmer famously observed: "A dullard is someone who looks something up in an encyclopedia, reads the entry, then closes the book." So, a what was originally planned as a simple fact-checking saunter through Wiki turned into a Lewis & Clark expedition into the history of printing: from 200 A.D Chinese, woodblock printing (for a few) to Gutenberg's moveable type in 1489 (for the more-than-a-few), to the offset press in the 1800s (for the masses), and on and on.
Along the way, I learned that the typewriter (QWERTY keyboard) was invented in the 1800s and standardized in 1910 and that mimeograph machines came along around the same time. I learned about carbon paper and its use in the proliferation of anti-government samizdat in the former USSR (some think that this helped lead to its breakup), as well as the ubiquity of photocopier humor in the 70s.
To make a long story short, this post now concerns personal printing, and how we got here.
First, a short history of printing (Thanks again, Wiki!)
- 200 A.D.: Woodblock Printing
- 1040: Introduction of Moveable Type
- 1430s: Intaglio (etchings)
- 1439: Introduction of the Printing Press (August Gutenberg)
- 1796: Lithography
- 1800s: Offset Printing Press
- 1843: Rotary Press
- (1910): Typewriting begins. Mark Twain writes Life on the Mississippi using an early model.
- (1950s): Mimeographed newsletters become popular.
- 1960: Photocopying
- 1969: Laser Printing
- 1970: Dot Matrix Printer
- 1976: Inkjet Printing
- (1985): Aldus PageMaker, Apple Computer's Macintosh and LaserWriter printers bring desktop publishing within the reach of the ordinary individual.
- (1988): Consumer inkjet printers arrive on the market.
- (2000): Inkjet manufacturers adopt the "razor and blades" pricing model and printer prices drop
precipitously, while the price of ink cartridges remains high. - (2000): Monochrome printer prices drop precipitously; however, as with ink cartridge prices, toner prices remain high.
- (2000s): Invoking the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, companies begin selling printer-compatible printer supplies at a fraction of the price of their OEM equivalents.
- Present: Personal printing is the norm, rather than the exception.
Well, that's about it for today's blog. Come back Monday for Pt. 2, and, hopefully my thoughts on the "Paperless Office" – a phrase reportedly first used in an article in Business Week in 1975! More on that Monday.
Meantime, have a safe and terrific July Fourth!
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