The first ink jet printer I ever saw

[Trevor Wilson]

Back in around 1972(ish) I was a trainee tech for the Overseas
Telecommunications Commission (Australia). Tucked away in one corner was
this odd little printer. The print was very slow (compared with the page
printer elsewhere in the building) and barely readable. I heard tell that it
cost around AUS$2,500.00 (1970(ish). A small fortune at the time. As I
recall, there was a plate behind the paper, which held a potential of around
2,000 Volts, thus attacting the droplets to the paper.

I wonder if anyone else has seen something similar and who made them.

 

[Philip Statham]

Back in around 1972(ish) I was a trainee tech for the Overseas
Telecommunications Commission (Australia). Tucked away in one corner was
this odd little printer. The print was very slow (compared with the page
printer elsewhere in the building) and barely readable. I heard tell that it
cost around AUS$2,500.00 (1970(ish). A small fortune at the time. As I
recall, there was a plate behind the paper, which held a potential of around
2,000 Volts, thus attacting the droplets to the paper.

I wonder if anyone else has seen something similar and who made them.

I recall a printer similar to the one you describe but it was a
thermal not an inkjet printer so I'm not sure if it the same thing.

The device I remember was a Texas Instruments Silent 700 thermal
printer. It required special thermally sensitive paper, was quiet but
slow in operation and the output was frequently faint. It was in
effect a thermal version of a dot matrix printer.

For further information on the Silent 700 see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_700

Best regards,

Philip Statham