Wikipedia definition of printer
In computing, a printer is a peripheral device which makes a persistent human-readable representation of graphics or text on paper. The first computer printer designed was a mechanically driven apparatus by Charles Babbage for his difference engine in the 19th century; however, his mechanical printer design was not built until 2000. The first electronic printer was the EP-101, invented by Japanese company Epson and released in 1968. The first commercial printers generally used mechanisms from electric typewriters and Teletype machines. The demand for higher speed led to the development of new systems specifically for computer use. In the 1980s were daisy wheel systems similar to typewriters, line printers that produced similar output but at much higher speed, and dot matrix systems that could mix text and graphics but produced relatively low-quality output. The plotter was used for those requiring high quality line art like blueprints.
Źródło: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printer_(computing)
Changing print needs
Printing is needed, no one has doubts about it, but are they just as necessary as 20 years ago? This is a debatable issue, but certainly the market needs and consumer demand have changed a bit.
The production of marketing materials increased significantly - leaflets, banners, promotional leaflets, and advertisements - and decreased the production of books and magazines, mainly due to the popularization of the Internet. Will we wait for the times when printers, DTP operators and printing house owners will have to look for a new job?
Printer ink affordable.
Cheap printer inks can have the highest quality. This is because printer accessories of this kind are always produced according to generally accepted standards. On the other hand, finding cheaper inks is very cost-effective for individuals and for owners of large photocopying and printing facilities where a large number of different types of printouts are made daily. Good prices for printer inks mean that people who can not afford them can afford rebate actions and introduce various promotions, because they are able to reasonably lower the costs of carrying out orders. In this way, they gain new customers without lowering the quality of services they provide.