| The inkjet printers have been continuously improving | | | | see the printer specifications boasting that MEMS is |
| since the first inkjet printer became available to the | | | | utilized and that's why this particular printer, costing |
| consumers in 1988, courtesy of Hewlett-Packard. If | | | | $499.99 is better than the competitor's $99.99 |
| you wanted to get your hands on the brand new | | | | printer. You might ask, however, what exactly is this |
| printer back then, you'd have to shell out $1000. | | | | MEMS and why is it important? |
| Nowadays, you can buy a Hewlett-Packard inkjet | | | | Micro Electro Mechanical Systems are tiny machines |
| printer for a measly $49 or even less. Every year | | | | that range in size from a micrometer (one millionth of |
| new and better inkjet printers are released with | | | | a meter) to a millimeter (one thousands of a meter), |
| higher resolutions, higher speeds, and more fancy | | | | machines that you cannot see without a powerful |
| words that shouldn't matter to someone who's just | | | | microscope. These machines make it possible for |
| looking for something to print vacation photos on. | | | | printers to produce high resolutions using tiny printer |
| Why does your 8-year-old need an inkjet printer that | | | | heads. It's not easy to fit over eight million |
| has the maximum resolution of 5760x1440 dots per | | | | (8,064,000) independent droplets of ink on one inch |
| inch (dpi) to do school assignments? The answer is | | | | of paper to achieve 5760x1440 dpi resolution. Each |
| she doesn't. With such low prices, the printer | | | | such droplet has a volume measured in picoliters (one |
| manufacturers need to find some way to coerce | | | | trillionth of a liter). This technology is extremely |
| people into upgrading their barely-used printers. One | | | | interesting and even mind-numbing, especially since it |
| way to do that is to constantly increase the | | | | now lives in an inkjet used by your 8-year-old. |
| resolution, the dpi, which is the most common way | | | | However, there is no reason why you need to have |
| we judge the quality of the printer. Clearly, a | | | | a Ph.D. in physics and understand the processes |
| 600x600 dpi quality is not good enough now. You | | | | involved in the construction of your inkjet's print |
| need at least 1200x1200, except the numbers keep | | | | head. |
| climbing every year! Recently, we have started | | | | The fact of the matter is that MEMS, while an |
| hearing about an amazing new technology for inkjets, | | | | exciting technology, should not be found on printers |
| MEMS, which stands for Micro Electro Mechanical | | | | as a way to lure customers to buy the latest and |
| Systems, that is bound to revolutionize the inkjet | | | | greatest printer. Let's leave Micro Elecro Mechanical |
| printer. | | | | Systems to the physicists and instead really think |
| Now, your old inkjet printer just isn't good enough | | | | why our 1200x1200 dpi is no longer adequate and |
| for homework or family photos, since the new | | | | whether it really isn't. |
| technology, MEMS, made it obsolete. You may even | | | | |