Have you heard of solid ink? Neither had I, it is Xerox technology that has apparently been around since 1991. Typical desktop printers make use of liquid ink which runs out quickly and is extremely wasteful. Solid ink, on the other hand, is melted as it is needed and dripped onto a small drum which is the same width as a sheet of paper. Using heat and pressure, the image is transferred to paper, using 90% less ink.

Until now solid ink had been limited to business users, but Xerox is preparing to release a number of printer models for general use within the year. I go through an enormous amount of ink. This is largely due to the fact that I insist on printing photo albums rather than just viewing them on my computer. While cartridges are commonly recycled, the thought of using less ink and fewer trips to the computer store is rather appealing. Let’s hope it works out for them. [Xerox via Crave]

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