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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.