Early Laser Printer Development

The Early Days Many people wrongly believe that Hewlett-Packard invented the laser printer. In fact, President George Bush visited the HP printer division in Boise, Idaho in 1990 and gave a speech in which he congratulated HP engineers for inventing the laser printer. He told them they were setting an excellent example for how to keep America competitive. At the time of this writing (1994) HP has used Canon engines for all of its laser printer models except for one very early and unsuccessful model, the 2685A, that used a Ricoh engine. In 1993 and 1994 rumors abounded that HP would soon introduce printers entirely manufactured by itself. Perhaps President Bush's comments had something to do with inspiring such an effort.