7.2.2. Daisy-Wheel Printers

If you have ever worked with a manual typewriter before, then you understand the technological concept behind daisy-wheel printers. These printers have printheads composed of metallic or plastic wheels cut into petals. Each petal has the form of a letter (in capital and lower-case), number, or punctuation mark on it. When the petal is struck against the printer ribbon, the resulting shape forces ink onto the paper. Daisy-wheel printers are loud and slow. They cannot print graphics, and cannot change fonts unless the print wheel is physically replaced. With the advent of laser printers, daisy-wheel printers are generally not used in modern computing environments.