The Laser Printer was invented at Xerox in 1969. The earliest model was based on the company's own xerographic copiers and was modified according to the requirements of a printer. Researcher Gary Starkweather is credited with its research and development and by the year 1971, he had brought into being a fully functional networked printer system. Over a period of time, the business of laser printing earned billions of dollars for Xerox.

The First Laser Printing Machines

Commercial laser printers were first integrated into use by way of the IBH model 3800 in the year 1976. It was used by businesses to print high-volume documents like mailing labels and invoices. All in all it was a very primitive version of the modern day printers and was quite large. One of the first laser printers that were specially designed for use with an individual computer was the Xerox Star 8010 that was released in 1981. The biggest problem with this printer was the expense. Their price was around $17,000 which actually made it unaffordable for most individuals and business so its use was limited to a relatively smaller number of businesses.

The rise of the Laser Printers

It was only after the use of personal computers started becoming more widespread that HP introduced one of the first laser printers targeted at the mass market. This printer was the HP LaserJet 8ppm and was released in 1984. An interesting fact to note here was that is used a Canon engine, which was in turn controlled by HP software. This printer became very popular and hence companies like IBM, Brother Industries etc followed it up with their own printers of the laser variety.

The Role of Laser Printers

Apart from the regular printing jobs that a printer was supposed to perform, laser printing popularized the process of desktop publishing. This was given an added fillip with the release of the Apple LaserWriter for its Apple Macintosh computers in 1985. This was accompanied by the Aldus PageMaker, which further popularized desktop publishing.

Popularity of the Printers

The prices of electronic devices have fallen over the years and so has the cost of laser printers and cartridges. Moreover, the size of such printers for offices or home has also gone down and today their sizes are acceptable for use in homes and small offices as well. What this essentially means is that the development and technological research in the printing industry never ends.

These devices are satisfying all kinds of needs and requirements pertinent to documentation and are achieving the highest standards of quality and reliability and are regularly setting new benchmarks for the same. Each and every development will be written down in a new chapter of history and chances are that the history of laser printing machines will be never ending.