Page "LaserWriter" Paragraph 9

Since the cost of a LaserWriter was several times that of a dot-matrix impact printer, some means to share the printer with several Macs was desired.

LANs were complex and expensive, so Apple developed its own networking scheme, LocalTalk.

Based on the AppleTalk protocol stack, LocalTalk connected the LaserWriter to the Mac over an RS-422 serial port.

At 230. 4 kbit / s LocalTalk was slower than the Centronics PC parallel interface, but allowed several computers to share a single LaserWriter.

PostScript enabled the LaserWriter to print complex pages containing high-resolution bitmap graphics, outline fonts, and vector illustrations.

The LaserWriter could print more complex layouts than the HP Laserjet and other non-Postscript printers.

Paired with the program Aldus PageMaker, the LaserWriter gave the layout editor an exact replica of the printed page.

The LaserWriter offered a generally faithful proofing tool for preparing documents for quantity publication, and could print smaller quantities directly.

The Mac platform quickly gained the favor of the emerging desktop-publishing industry, a market in which the Mac is still important.