|
===Lo sviluppo in casa Apple===
Steve Jobs vide la LPB-CX mentre trattava per delle forniture di [[floppy disk]] da 3.5" per l'[[Apple Macintosh]]. Nel frattempo [[John Warnock]] aveva lasciato la [[Xerox]] per fondare la [[Adobe (azienda)|Adobe]] e mettere in commercio una stampante laser basata sul [[PostScript]]. Jobs era al corrente del lavoro di Warnock e riuscì a trattare con lui ed ottenere la licenza d'uso del [[PostScript]] dalla [[Adobe]] per produrre una stampante laser in casa Apple. Le trattative tra Apple ed Adobe si conclusero nel [[dicembre]] [[1983]], appena un mese prima che venisse annunciata l'uscita del [[Macintosh]]. Steve Jobs alla fine fece comprare alla Apple 2.5 milioni di [[dollaro|dollari]] di azioni della [[Adobe]].
Steve Jobs vide la LPB-CX mentre trattava per delle forniture di [[floppy disk]] da 3.5'' per l'[[Apple Macintosh]]. Nel frattempo [[John
Steve Jobs had seen the LPB-CX while negotiating for supplies of 3.5" floppy disk drives for the upcoming [[Apple Macintosh]] computer. Meanwhile, [[John Warnock]] had left Xerox to found [[Adobe Systems]] in order to commercialize [[PostScript]] in a laser printer they intended to market. Jobs was aware of Warnock's efforts, and on his return to California he started working on convincing Warnock to allow Apple to license PostScript for a new printer that Apple would sell. Negotiations between Apple and Adobe over the use of Postscript began in 1983 and an agreement was reached in December 1983, one month before Macintosh was announced.<ref name="pfiff-2003" /> Jobs eventually arranged for Apple to buy $2.5 million in Adobe stock.
At about the same time, Jonathan Seybold ([[John W. Seybold|John W]]'s son) introduced [[Paul Brainerd]] to Apple, where he learned of Apple's laser printer efforts and saw the potential for a new program using the Mac's [[GUI]] to produce PostScript output for the new printer. Arranging his own funding through a [[venture capital]] firm, Brainerd formed [[Aldus]] and began development of what would become [[Adobe PageMaker|PageMaker]]. The VC coined the term "desktop publishing" during this time.<ref>David Wilma, [http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=7657 "Brainerd, Paul (b. 1947)"], HistoryLink, 22 February 2006</ref>
===Rilascio===
The LaserWriter was announced at Apple's annual shareholder meeting on January 23, 1985,<ref name="bart-1985">Jim Bartimo, Michael McCarthy: [http://books.google.com/books?id=7S4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 "Is Apple's LaserWriter on Target?"], ''InfoWorld'', Volume 7 Issue 6 (11 February 1985), pp. 15-18.</ref> the same day Aldus announced PageMaker.<ref>''Aldus Announces Desktop Publishing System ...'' BusinessWire, January 23, 1985.</ref> Shipments began in March 1985<ref>[http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=24596 Macintosh Timeline]</ref> at the retail price of US$ 6,995, significantly more than the HP model. However, the LaserWriter featured [[AppleTalk]] support that allowed the printer to be shared among as many as sixteen Macs, meaning that its per-user price could fall to under $450, far less expensive than HP's less-advanced model.
Il rilascio della LaserWriter fu annunciato all'incontro annuale degli azionisti Apple il [[23 gennaio]] [[1985]]<ref name="bart-1985">{{en}}Jim Bartimo, Michael McCarthy:[http://books.google.com/books?id=7S4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 "Is Apple's LaserWriter on Target?"], ''InfoWorld'', Volume 7 Issue 6 (11 February 1985), pp. 15-18.</ref>, lo stesso giorno in cui Aldus rivelò [[PageMaker]]<ref>{{en}}''Aldus Announces Desktop Publishing System ...'' BusinessWire, January 23, 1985.</ref>.
The combination of the LaserWriter, PostScript, PageMaker and the Mac's GUI and built-in AppleTalk networking would ultimately transform the landscape of computer desktop publishing.<ref name="pfiff-2003">Pamela Pfiffner: ''Inside the Publishing Revolution. The Adobe Story.'' Adobe Press, 2003. ISBN 0-321-11564-3. Chapter ''Steve Jobs and the LaserWriter.'' Pages 33-46. A PDF of the chapter is available at {{cite web|url=http://www.creativepro.com/article/inside-publishing-revolution-how-laserwriter-and-photoshop-changed-world |title=Inside the Publishing Revolution|publisher=CreativePro.com |date=2002-12-03 |accessdate=2009-09-23}}</ref> At the time, Apple planned to release a suite of AppleTalk products as part of the [[Macintosh Office]], with the LaserWriter being only the first component.<ref name="linz-1985">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mXnw5tM8QRwC&pg=PA143
|author=Owen W. Linzmayer
|title=Apple Confidential 2.0
|publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2009-09-23
|ISBN= 978-1-59327-010-0}} Chapter ''Why 1984 Wasn't like 1984.'' Pages 143-146.</ref>
Le vendite iniziarono nel [[marzo]] [[1985]]<ref>[http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=24596 Macintosh Timeline]</ref> al prezzo di 6.995 [[dollaro|dollari]], molto più alto rispetto al modello della [[HP]]. Comunque, la LaserWriter aveva una peculiarità: il supporto [[AppleTalk]], che permetteva di condividere la stampante con ben sedici Mac.
While competing printers and their associated control languages offered some of the capabilities of PostScript, they were limited in their ability to reproduce free-form layouts (as a desktop publishing application might produce), use [[Computer_font#Outline_fonts|outline fonts]], or offer the level of detail and control over the page layout. HP's own LaserJet was driven by a simple [[page description language]] running on the host computer, known as [[Printer Command Language]], or PCL. The version for the LaserJet, PCL4, was adapted from earlier [[inkjet printer]]s with the addition of downloadable bitmapped fonts.<ref name=j/> It lacked the power and flexibility of PostScript until several upgrades provided some level of parity.<ref>[http://www.csgnetwork.com/hppclhist.html "HP's History Of Printer Command Language (PCL)"], HP</ref> It was some time before similar products became available on other platforms, by which time the Mac had ridden the desktop publishing market to success.
==Caratteristiche==
==Modelli==
{{See also|List of Apple printers#Laser printer series}}
Building on the success of the original LaserWriter, Apple developed many further models. Later LaserWriters offered faster printing, higher [[dots per inch|resolution]]s, [[Ethernet]] connectivity, and eventually color output in the [[Color LaserWriter]]. To compete, many other laser printer manufacturers licensed Adobe PostScript for inclusion into their own models. Eventually the standardization on Ethernet for connectivity and the ubiquity of PostScript undermined the unique position of Apple’s printers: Macintosh computers functioned equally well with any Postscript printer. After the LaserWriter 8500, Apple discontinued the LaserWriter product line in 1997.
La prima LaserWriter prodotta ebbe un notevole successo e così la Apple decide di produrne nuovi modelli, con risoluzione maggiore ed addirittura in grado di stampare a colori.
In 1988, to address the need for both an affordable printer and a professional printer, the LaserWriter II was designed to allow for complete replacement of the computer circuit board that operates the printer. Across all the different models, the print engine was the same.
* For low-end users, there was the LaserWriter II SC,<ref>http://support.apple.com/kb/SP474</ref> a host-based [[QuickDraw]] printer connected via SCSI that did not use PostScript and did not require a license from Adobe. It had two SCSI ports to allow [[Daisy chain (electrical engineering)|daisy-chaining]] of the printer with other SCSI devices such as hard drives. It did not support AppleTalk.
* For midrange users, the LaserWriter II NT<ref>http://support.apple.com/kb/SP475</ref> provided PostScript support and AppleTalk networking.
* For high-end users, the LaserWriter II NTX<ref>http://support.apple.com/kb/SP476</ref> also included a SCSI controller for storage of printer fonts on a hard drive dedicated for use by the printer.
Nel [[1988]] uscirono nuovi modelli di LaserWriter:
Three years later in 1991, two updated versions of the LaserWriter II were produced.
* Laser Writer II SC: sviluppata per essere più economica dei precedenti modelli. Significativo infatti è l'abbandono dell'interprete [[PostScript]] per l'interprete [[QuickDraw]] che essendo di proprietà Apple non richiedeva il pagamento di licenze ;
* The LaserWriter IIf<ref>http://support.apple.com/kb/SP477</ref> had a faster processor than the IINTX, a newer version of PostScript and also HP PCL, and included the SCSI interface for font storage on an external hard drive
* LaserWriter II NT: il processore scelto è il [[Motorola 68030]], l'interprete [[PostScript]] passa alla versione 2 e viene incluso l'interprete PCL 4+ per facilitare l'interoperabilità con le macchine non [[Macintosh]];
* The LaserWriter IIg<ref>http://support.apple.com/kb/SP478</ref> had the capabilities of the IIf, and was also the first LaserWriter with a built-in Ethernet network interface.
* LaserWriter II NTX: dotata di un processore a 32 bit come il[[Motorola 68020]] in modo da poter elaborare più agevolmente i comandi degli interpreti [[PostScript]] e LaserJet forniti con la stampante;
* LaserWriter IIg: è dotata del più veloce processore disponibile allora ([[1991]]), dei migliori interpreti di pagina ef è il modello che supporta più RAM, 32 MByte al massimo della espansione.;
▲===* LaserWriter II ===IIf.
== Note ==
| 