Dot Matrix Printer: Please Help





dot matrix business cartoon

At one of my earlier jobs we had some really old tech. Green on black monitors, mainframes in the back and the gigantic old dot matrix printer that, if you didn’t know better, you’d suspect was somehow steam powered.

Everyday it chugged and wheezed and printed purchase orders, checks, and statements galore. And then one day, it stopped.

As much as I’d complained about our ancient tech in the office, I have to admit I was just a little sad when I saw the beige behemoth sitting next to the garbage can. Sad, that is, until this cartoon popped into my head.

I’m sure it’s sitting in some landfill somewhere as we speak, but I like to think of this cartoon as a last little joke we shared.

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Mark Anderson Mark Anderson's cartoons appear in publications including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. His business cartoons are available for licensing at his website, Andertoons.com.

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  1. I’m showing my age, but I remember when most home printers were dot matrix printers. Then I moved up to a daisy wheel printer – better looking results but boy were those noisy. I held on to both for about 2 decades after I bought my first HP DeskJet (which still worked the last time I tried it a few months ago, by the way).

    The good old days weren’t necessarily that good when it came to printers.

  2. Sometimes I miss those little guys too! My favorite old technology? The phones with an actual dial.