In the past, printers were typically very large and expensive, as manufacturers had not yet figured out how to fit all of that power into a compact frame. Dot matrix and laser printers were just about the only option until the late 1970s, when a different type of machine started to be developed. From innovators like HP, Canon and Epson, inkjet printers burst on to the market in 1984, but reached optimum popularity in 1988 when HP introduced the Deskjet line of ink-based personal printers. Though it cost as much as $1,000 at the time to own one of these inkjet printers, it didn’t take long for the technology to advance and for other companies to jump on the bandwagon, while prices began to shrink. By the 1990s, inkjet printers had virtually silenced the dot matrix printing industry and began to compete with standard laser printers.
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