Do Printers Have Memory?

By Kieron Byatt, PaperCut: How much are printers like computers? You’d think they’re close relatives. But they’re not. What they mainly have in common is that they talk to each other. Like that third removed uncle you only see at the holidays. Difference being, imagine you worked with that uncle. Only he forgets your name constantly. Inspiring you to ask, “Do you have memory?”

Do printers have memory? Can they store information about the documents they process? Are all print jobs trapped in the printer’s internal CPU forever like a giant black box? Does any memory they do have pose a threat to your organization’s information security? Do printers have uncles? Or feelings? Let’s start with the answer you clicked for…