Article: Lucky squirt: ink-jet printers.

IN 1977 a researcher at Canon brushed his soldering iron against the hypodermic needle of an ink-filled syringe. Out shot a stream of droplets. The sharp rise in temperature had produced little bubbles that spat ink out of the tip. That spray of ink, reproduced and brought under control, has become the basis of a hugely successful business for Canon, Hewlett-Packard (which came by the idea a little later) and others. Last year HP's revenue from inkjet printers and related products such as ink and cartridges was over $4 billion--more than Microsoft made from software. It is likely to keep growing.

When HP introduced the LaserJet, the first desktop laser printer, and ...

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