| dot matrix printer
One of the earliest mass-market
attempts at reliable, high-speed printing, dot matrix printers used a set
of pins that could be fired rapidly at an inked ribbon to form characters
on an underlying sheet of paper. While speedy, these printers suffered
from relatively poor print quality. Even higher-end models with as many as
48 pins could produce only near-letter-quality text. Lower-end, 9-pin
models were suitable only for printing drafts. |