CMSC 150 - Fall 2017 - System.out.print("Output")

No one breakthrough has allowed for such a diverse array of physical creations in the way that printers have. Printers, like the previously discussed displays, are generally peripheral devices that create physical manifestations of computer information and data (1). However, they have a history deeper than the simple nature of taking a screen and putting it on paper would suggest The Past A replica difference engine (10) While it can be argued that the history of the printer lies in the typewriter, for this blog's purpose we look to Charles Babbage's design for the difference engine as the first direct ancestor of today's HP DeskJet. While the design of this device laid the groundwork for much of what we consider modern computers, it was the first device to output a physical product on paper (2). Since then the technology has rapidly advanced; the first electronic printer debuted in 1968 (3), and household versions came soon after. The Present A typical in

Displays are the primary output device that most consumers tend to interact with, and therefore tend to have the most attention of the average consumer. A display is defined as " an output device that visually conveys text, graphics, and video information." 1 For most intents and purposes, displays are screens. However, they weren't always the razor-thin panels that today's laptops, TVs, and smartphones have, and they won't always be, either. The Past: CRT While rudimentary display technology existed before the cathode ray tube (CRT) screen, no other display technology advanced the field nearly so much as the CRT did. While the roots of the CRT were planted in the mid-1800s, they came into their prime when the television was invented and became widely available, and progressed into a computer peripheral in the early days of the personal computer. According to ThoughtCo, "a cathode ray tube is a specialized vacuum tube in which images are produced when an