Gary Starkweather who Invented Laser Writer dies

[BillTre]

Garry Starkweather who was developing the idea for the laser writer at Xerox. Due to management opposition, he had to move to PARC to bring it to fruition.
As a kid he was quite the tinkerer.
A nice summary of his life and journey to laser writer development is in this NY Times obit.

 

[berkeman]

What a fundamental invention! I call it "Laser Printer" instead of Laser Writer, but it's the same cool idea.

From the link:

“What you have to do is not just look at the marble,” he said in a talk at the University of South Florida in 2017. “You have to see the angel in the marble.”

 

[BillTre]

I had intended to write a bit more about, but got rushed.

One thing I always thought was cool was that it is a modification of Xerox's already existing and very successful copying technology.
My understanding (which could be wrong (WCBW)) is the Toner adheres to a rotating drum based on an electrostatic charge put in the drum by the copier's 2D imaging system, drum rotates and toner is transferred to paper sheet, then heated to melt toner.
The laser printer/writer uses a computer directed laser to put the charge on the rotating drum.
The rest (other differences) is electronics.

When it comes to making things easily available and useful, I would put this up there with screw drivers in cordless drills and cell phones.