Imagine this – it‘s the 1970s and you work at an exciting high-tech research lab trying to build the world‘s first printer using a laser! After years of assembling pristine optics and complex mirrors to guide a laser beam to etch images onto a spinning drum, you finally achieve a breakthrough: crunching and whirring, the machine slowly prints out a digital file. Such were the humble beginnings of laser printing technology we now take for granted.
Few office workers pouring over documents freshly popped out of the trusty laser printer down the hall likely realize the winding journey these devices took from concept to mainstream staple. The pioneering engineers, business deals and killer applications that transformed laser printing from 1970s curiosity into 1990s ubiquity is a remarkable story of persistence and ingenuity.
Bringing Starkweather‘s Laser Printer Vision to Life
The road to laser printers began in the legendary halls of Xerox PARC where innovative technologies like graphical user interfaces and Ethernet networking were also born. Optical physicist Gary Starkweather had an inspired idea – what if a laser beam could "draw" images onto the light-sensitive drums used in photocopiers? After years of assembling custom laser optic systems and modifying clunky photocopier components, Starkweather achieved a breakthrough by printing digital files in Xerox‘s labs.
But his initial 1972 printer was painfully slow, taking several minutes per page while producing low resolution output. Yet his diligent refinements finally demonstrated the promise of laser printing to Xerox executives by 1977 using a modified copier to achieve over 120 pages per minute! Starkweather built on the earlier photocopier research of innovators like Chester Carlson, adapting the process of static electricity and heat-fused toner powder to digital images.
| Year | Model | Print Speed | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | IBM 3800 | 215 pages per minute | 240 dpi | $200k – $400k |
| 1977 | Xerox 9700 | 120 pages per minute | 240 dpi | $80k |
| 1980 | Canon LBP-10 | 12 pages per minute | 300 dpi | $5000 |
Big Business Bets Bring Laser Printers Mainstream
Seeing early promise but substantial remaining engineering hurdles, Xerox licensed their laser printer patents to Japanese firm Canon in the late 1970s. While Canon developed compact laser print engine components, they lacked experience selling to computer users. So in 1980 they forged a fateful partnership with Silicon Valley pioneers Hewlett-Packard, combinng Canon‘s printer expertise with HP‘s electronic controls and software.
This collaboration resulted in the 1984 HP LaserJet – priced under $3500, small enough for desks, with blistering (for the era) 12 page per minute print speeds and easy toner replacement. LaserJet became a runaway bestseller by enabling affordable high-volume printing in offices. Competitors like Apple, IBM and Brother soon released their own Canon engine laser printers, but HP‘s strong lead defined an entire product category that became essential technologyinfrastructure for businesses over the following decade.
PageMaker + Apple LaserWriter: Killer App Sparks Desktop Publishing
A key driver propelling laser printer adoption was PostScript – a device independent page description language allowing precise rendering of fonts, graphics layouts across printers. When combined with Apple‘s 1985 LaserWriter (the first PostScript laser printer) and Aldus PageMaker software, the "killer application" of desktop publishing was born.
This allowed home and small business users to easily print professional quality communication materials vs traditional methods. The LaserWriter+PageMaker combo showcased laser printer advantages for outputting complex digital documents with precision formatting and typography. Its affordable WYSIWYG approach popularized techniques once confined to skilled specialists, fomenting the desktop publishing revolution of the late 1980s.
Ongoing Innovation Drives New Applications
From those early days, ongoing advances have greatly improved the speed, print quality, color capabilities, paper handling and cost-effectiveness of laser printers. Key milestones accelerating business adoption included:
- 1990 – HP IIP first affordable $2000 laser printer at 8 pages per minute
- 1993 – Edge-to-edge color laser printing introduced
- 2009 – HP Color LaserJet fastest office printer: 47 ppm
And in 2000, Xerox brought solid ink printing technology to market, using laser printer techniques with specialized ink sticks minimizing waste.
While inkjets have captured the low-cost home printer market, laser printers continue dominating workplace, commercial and industrial printing where speed, monthly duty cycles and consumable costs are critical.
Lasting Impact of Laser Printing Invention
The story of laser printing showcases determined innovators overcoming daunting technical obstacles to profoundly impact offices globally. Gary Starkweather’s creative vision merging lasers and photocopiers has enhanced productivity and communications for over 50 years since his first homemade prototype. And there’s still substantial promise ahead as engineering creativity unlocks faster speeds, smaller footprints while minimizing environmental impact.
