printer

What's a printer? It's the hardware device that prints text or graphics on paper. There are several kinds, including LCD, LED, thermal, line, ink-jet, dot-matrix, and the laser printer. 

Some Web pages offer a "printer-friendly version" which means they've developed a page that contains the same information but doesn't have all the extra graphics or ad banners (in an effort to save you some toner, the ink inside the printer). So if you want to print a Web page, always choose the printer-friendly version if it's available. 

Most printers now are referred to as "all-in-one" which includes a photocopier, fax machine and a scanner.

Historical perspective: Best known for its printers, Hewlett-Packard (commonly known as "HP") was founded in Palo Alto, California in 1939 by William Hewlett and David Packard. These were the original "guys in the garage" and for many, HP in effect invented Silicon Valley as the preeminent fertile field for entrepreneurs.

Did you know that printers add secret tracking dots? They’re almost invisible but as Reality Winner found out in 2017, the dots contain a hidden code that can be traced by the FBI.  These "microdots" (well known to security researchers and civil liberties campaigners) encode the date and time a document is printed, and the serial number for the printer. Many color printers add these dots to documents without people ever knowing they’re there.