Dot matrix printers are the dinosaurs that won’t go extinct. They are not unlike a typewriter with the type bars behind the ink ribbon replaced by a row of metal pins controlled by solenoids ...

The dot matrix printer uses one or two columns of dot hammers ... The more hammers, the higher the resolution. For example, 9-pin heads produce draft quality text, while 24-pin heads produce ...

you only need one pin to print from a Commodore or any computer, for that matter. Like just about everything else that makes noise, someone will try to make music with dot matrix printers ...

This office "workhorse" incorporates a 24-pin dot matrix printer, allowing it to churn out forms at a standard rate of 180 characters per second, with speeds hitting 240 characters per second if ...

Excerpted from The Chinese Computer: A Global History of the Information Age, by Thomas S. Mullaney. Published by The MIT ...