[PLUG-TALK] HP4050 printer turns 21 this year
Keith Lofstrom
keithl at kl-ic.com
Sat Feb 22 22:30:01 UTC 2020
On Fri, Feb 21, 2020 at 06:56:28PM -0800, Galen Seitz wrote:
> HP Laserjet 4M Plus, manufactured in October of 1994. I replaced
> the feed rollers back in December, so I should be good for another
> decade or two.
My 4050 replaced a 4M so I could print duplex. The 4M was
built like a tank. I joked that it could print T-shirts.
The 4050 is more finicky about media (I can't feed stiff
cardboard through it), but hasn't jammed yet. I have
spare rollers, which I haven't needed yet. I wonder if
there is a better way to store them (a sealed jar filled
with CO2?) so the elastomers don't oxidize.
----
Gary Starkweather's "first" laser printer was either the
1972 SLOT (a Xerox 7000 copier with a scanning laser
attached) or the 1973 EARS printer (for the PARC Alto,
with a real character generator). The 1973 Xerox 1200
was the first commercial laser printer.
I presume one of those is in a museum somewhere, and
would be 45+ years old now, plenty old enough to run for
President, presuming some state issues a retroactive
birth certificate and voter registration for the device,
making it a person. The Constitution does not specify
"human", which has permitted the election of some with
dubious claims to that status.
Let's find one of those printers, and lobby in Salem to
make it a citizen. We can have it print out an image of
a right hand to raise for the swearing-in ceremony. It
would not be hard to add a speaker so it can emit the
oath of office.
----
BTW, Gary Starkweather died in December 2019 at the age
of 81, and Larry Tessler died last week at age 74. Many
of the original Alto team are still around, and still
doing good work. They can teach us young whippersnappers
something about software and hardware quality.
Keith
--
Keith Lofstrom keithl at keithl.com
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