Inkjet printer
Printer that forms characters from microscopic ink droplets sprayed at the paper without touching it.
Two methods split the market. Thermal inkjet, developed by Canon and HP around 1979–1984, boils a droplet with a tiny heater so a vapour bubble ejects it. Piezoelectric heads, Epson's route, use a crystal that flexes under voltage. Both drink the same costly ink — the cartridges are the real business, the printer almost a giveaway.
The technology brought colour into the home at a price dot-matrix and laser printers could not match for years. The drawbacks are famous: nozzles that clog after a few idle weeks, and ink that costs more per litre than most perfumes. For photographs it is still hard to beat.