ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Line printer

Hey kiddo! Have you ever seen a printer before? You know, the one that prints out your colored pages for school or pictures for your art project? A line printer is a little different from your regular printer.

See, a line printer is a type of printer that prints out text on a big piece of paper. But instead of printing out one letter at a time, like your regular printer, it prints out a whole line of text all at once. Kind of like writing a whole sentence in just one second!

Now, line printers aren't very fancy like the ones you see in the store. They don't use ink or toner to print out the words. Instead, they use something called a printhead. The printhead is kind of like a rubber stamp that has the words already on it. When the printer runs the printhead over the paper, it leaves behind the inked letters, making a line of printed text.

But line printers aren't just for printing out regular documents like you might use for school or work. They're often used for things like printing out checks, invoices, and other important papers that need to be printed quickly and accurately.

So that's it! A line printer is just a special kind of printer that can print out a whole line of text all at once, using a printhead instead of ink or toner. It may not be as fancy as the ones you see in stores, but it's very useful for printing out important papers quickly and accurately.