Introduced | 1974 |
---|
The Honeywell Page Printing System (PPS) announced in 1974, is notable because it was the first commercially successful high speed non-impact printer. [1] It could produce output at up to 18,000 lines per minute, [2] where the earlier Xerox 1200 (the first commercially available electro-static printer) ran at 4000 lines per minute [3] and the contemporary IBM 3211 (which was an impact printer), ran at 2000 lines per minute. [4] Most printer history has focused on the later IBM 3800 [5] and the Xerox 9700. [6]
The PPS was designed by Honeywell Information Systems (HIS) in Oklahoma City. Development began in 1967, under a team led by Ronald F Borelli. Their initial goal was to exceed 5,000 lines per minute and after six years of development, they shipped their first pre-production unit to Lawrence Livermore Lab in 1973. It was able to run at 18,000 lines per minute. [7]
Honeywell had three primary goals with the PPS: [8]
The PPS consisted of four major subsystems:
Honeywell claimed that the PPS had two unique systems:
The PPS speed was optionally either 8,000, 12,000 or 18,000 lines per minute (90,140 or 210 pages per minute). [11] [7] The speed could be increased as a purchased upgrade. It used a large roll of special dielectric paper, which was 3800 feet in length. The paper roll consisted of conductive base paper coated with a thin payer of dielectric material. After printing it was cut to one of 14 desired sheet sizes and then stacked. The printer was able to pre-print the page (adding a logo or a background form) prior to printing the variable data by using a custom engraved magnesium cylinder [12] also called a forms roll. This avoided the need to use pre-printed forms. [8]
There were three Models: I, II, II/E. [13]
The Model II was announced in June 1979. [14] The model II is described as having the following: [15]
The Model II/E was announced by Ron Borelli before or during May 1981. The major change appears to have been around options to increase the CPU, memory and hard drive space of the Level 6 Microcomputer. This offered new software options such as allowing users to queue print jobs. [17]
There are references to a model III in at least two sources. [13] [18] A 1980 Computerworld Magazine suggested that Honeywell planned to add duplex printing by 1983. [19]
While limited shipments occurred between 1973 and 1976, sales began in earnest in 1976 when a dedicated sales force was established. The PPS Operation was run as a separate company within the Honeywell Corporation with its own manufacturing, research and development and marketing teams with 75 marketing (sales) personnel. [20] In February 1979 they reported there were 150 PPSs installed, [20] and in June 1979 they claimed to have sold and installed 250 systems. [7] They claimed typical users produced between 1.2 and 1.5 million pages of output per month. [7] Honeywell advertising suggested the printer was cost effective at 400,000 pages per month and could potentially print up to four million pages per month. [21]
An IDC report in 1980 found that while the PPS was cheaper than the IBM 3800 or Xerox 9700, the cost of the special paper needed by the PPS was significantly higher at 0.0068 cents per sheet versus 0.0043 cents per sheet for plain paper.
Sample customer included:
Honeywell and the Bull group began a business relationship in 1974, which resulted in Honeywell-Bull being created in 1976. By 1988 Honeywell Bull was consolidated into group Bull and in 1989, renamed to Bull, a WorldWide Information Systems company, at which time Honeywell Information Systems effectively ceased to exist. [25] In 1988 Bull released the 4000 series, that had a similar physical layout to the PPS, using roll paper and a DPS/6 Control Unit (the renamed Level 6 [26]). However it also had three major differences: [27]
Bull Printing Systems was sold to Delphax for an undisclosed sum at the end of 1991. At that time it was earning $20million USD revenue per year. [28]
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Introduced | 1974 |
---|
The Honeywell Page Printing System (PPS) announced in 1974, is notable because it was the first commercially successful high speed non-impact printer. [1] It could produce output at up to 18,000 lines per minute, [2] where the earlier Xerox 1200 (the first commercially available electro-static printer) ran at 4000 lines per minute [3] and the contemporary IBM 3211 (which was an impact printer), ran at 2000 lines per minute. [4] Most printer history has focused on the later IBM 3800 [5] and the Xerox 9700. [6]
The PPS was designed by Honeywell Information Systems (HIS) in Oklahoma City. Development began in 1967, under a team led by Ronald F Borelli. Their initial goal was to exceed 5,000 lines per minute and after six years of development, they shipped their first pre-production unit to Lawrence Livermore Lab in 1973. It was able to run at 18,000 lines per minute. [7]
Honeywell had three primary goals with the PPS: [8]
The PPS consisted of four major subsystems:
Honeywell claimed that the PPS had two unique systems:
The PPS speed was optionally either 8,000, 12,000 or 18,000 lines per minute (90,140 or 210 pages per minute). [11] [7] The speed could be increased as a purchased upgrade. It used a large roll of special dielectric paper, which was 3800 feet in length. The paper roll consisted of conductive base paper coated with a thin payer of dielectric material. After printing it was cut to one of 14 desired sheet sizes and then stacked. The printer was able to pre-print the page (adding a logo or a background form) prior to printing the variable data by using a custom engraved magnesium cylinder [12] also called a forms roll. This avoided the need to use pre-printed forms. [8]
There were three Models: I, II, II/E. [13]
The Model II was announced in June 1979. [14] The model II is described as having the following: [15]
The Model II/E was announced by Ron Borelli before or during May 1981. The major change appears to have been around options to increase the CPU, memory and hard drive space of the Level 6 Microcomputer. This offered new software options such as allowing users to queue print jobs. [17]
There are references to a model III in at least two sources. [13] [18] A 1980 Computerworld Magazine suggested that Honeywell planned to add duplex printing by 1983. [19]
While limited shipments occurred between 1973 and 1976, sales began in earnest in 1976 when a dedicated sales force was established. The PPS Operation was run as a separate company within the Honeywell Corporation with its own manufacturing, research and development and marketing teams with 75 marketing (sales) personnel. [20] In February 1979 they reported there were 150 PPSs installed, [20] and in June 1979 they claimed to have sold and installed 250 systems. [7] They claimed typical users produced between 1.2 and 1.5 million pages of output per month. [7] Honeywell advertising suggested the printer was cost effective at 400,000 pages per month and could potentially print up to four million pages per month. [21]
An IDC report in 1980 found that while the PPS was cheaper than the IBM 3800 or Xerox 9700, the cost of the special paper needed by the PPS was significantly higher at 0.0068 cents per sheet versus 0.0043 cents per sheet for plain paper.
Sample customer included:
Honeywell and the Bull group began a business relationship in 1974, which resulted in Honeywell-Bull being created in 1976. By 1988 Honeywell Bull was consolidated into group Bull and in 1989, renamed to Bull, a WorldWide Information Systems company, at which time Honeywell Information Systems effectively ceased to exist. [25] In 1988 Bull released the 4000 series, that had a similar physical layout to the PPS, using roll paper and a DPS/6 Control Unit (the renamed Level 6 [26]). However it also had three major differences: [27]
Bull Printing Systems was sold to Delphax for an undisclosed sum at the end of 1991. At that time it was earning $20million USD revenue per year. [28]
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link) CS1 maint: others (
link)
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (
link)
{{
cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (
link)