5 ms·

I smile every time I hear the 9-pin scream at an airline gate. The sound of my youth, playing around with a Z80, 1200/75 modem, centronics cable, and fan-fold p

I smile every time I hear the 9-pin scream at an airline gate. The sound of my youth, playing around with a Z80, 1200/75 modem, centronics cable, and fan-fold paper.

djmips 3y ago
Why do some airlines still use 9-pins?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- odiroot 3y ago
  Cheap, low-maintenance, easy to troubleshoot?
- timthorn 3y ago
  Dot matrix printers can print two or more copies simultaneously using carbon paper.
  - Reason077 3y ago
    And in the old days, the old paper airline tickets were printed on little carbon paper ticket books. As I remember it, the airline would tear out one copy "coupon" from the ticket for each segment that you flew before issuing your boarding pass. But paper tickets are pretty much unheard of now days, and I don't think airlines are using much carbon paper. The real reasons they're still around at airports are probably: 1. Compatible with the airline's ancient software and terminals 2. Small size relative to laser printers, can be integrated in to the airline gate/ticket desk "furniture" 3. Highly reliable, and doesn't need expensive consumables. Just need to replace the ink ribbon maybe once a year or so 4. Can print one line at a time if necessary as a sort of ledger/manifest, such as for each passenger who's checked in, and you can tear off whatever's already been printed whenever it's needed
    - c22 3y ago
      > 4. Can print one line at a time if necessary as a sort of ledger/manifest, such as for each passenger who's checked in, and you can tear off whatever's already been printed whenever it's needed I do this with a receipt printer to keep a real-time hard copy of my server access logs.
    - netsharc 3y ago
      In March 2020, when Covid-19 was about to be a big deal, there was a period of time where the biggest question for F1 fans was "Will the Australian Grand Prix happen or not?". On Reddit, someone posted a printout of a passenger manifest listing the 2 Ferrari drivers on a flight out of Australia before the race, a big sign that the race was probably not going happen, and this printout came from a dot matrix printer.
- NikolaNovak 3y ago
  Other than inertia, my understanding is a number of business types benefit from, or have made processes based on, instant carbon copies.
WWLink 3y ago
When I was a kid I inherited an old 8088 and a 24-pin panasonic dot matrix from my dad's office when they retired it. The computer was ok, but the printer was amazing. Sadly at some point I had too many issues with the paper feed and decided to toss it. I do regret doing that, but it was huge and heavy! That printer could definitely wake the dead. And it shook the old (very sturdy) sewing machine table I had it on lol.

I smile every time I hear the 9-pin scream at an airline gate. The sound of my youth, playing around with a Z80, 1200/75 modem, centronics cable, and fan-fold paper.

djmips 3y ago

Why do some airlines still use 9-pins?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
odiroot 3y ago
Cheap, low-maintenance, easy to troubleshoot?
timthorn 3y ago
Dot matrix printers can print two or more copies simultaneously using carbon paper.
- Reason077 3y ago
  And in the old days, the old paper airline tickets were printed on little carbon paper ticket books. As I remember it, the airline would tear out one copy "coupon" from the ticket for each segment that you flew before issuing your boarding pass. But paper tickets are pretty much unheard of now days, and I don't think airlines are using much carbon paper. The real reasons they're still around at airports are probably: 1. Compatible with the airline's ancient software and terminals 2. Small size relative to laser printers, can be integrated in to the airline gate/ticket desk "furniture" 3. Highly reliable, and doesn't need expensive consumables. Just need to replace the ink ribbon maybe once a year or so 4. Can print one line at a time if necessary as a sort of ledger/manifest, such as for each passenger who's checked in, and you can tear off whatever's already been printed whenever it's needed
  - c22 3y ago
    > 4. Can print one line at a time if necessary as a sort of ledger/manifest, such as for each passenger who's checked in, and you can tear off whatever's already been printed whenever it's needed I do this with a receipt printer to keep a real-time hard copy of my server access logs.
  - netsharc 3y ago
    In March 2020, when Covid-19 was about to be a big deal, there was a period of time where the biggest question for F1 fans was "Will the Australian Grand Prix happen or not?". On Reddit, someone posted a printout of a passenger manifest listing the 2 Ferrari drivers on a flight out of Australia before the race, a big sign that the race was probably not going happen, and this printout came from a dot matrix printer.
NikolaNovak 3y ago
Other than inertia, my understanding is a number of business types benefit from, or have made processes based on, instant carbon copies.

WWLink 3y ago

When I was a kid I inherited an old 8088 and a 24-pin panasonic dot matrix from my dad's office when they retired it. The computer was ok, but the printer was amazing. Sadly at some point I had too many issues with the paper feed and decided to toss it. I do regret doing that, but it was huge and heavy! That printer could definitely wake the dead. And it shook the old (very sturdy) sewing machine table I had it on lol.