Scanner

A scanner is an input device that takes in an optical image and digitizes it into an electronic image represented as digital data.

Description
A scanner can be used to create a computerized reproduction of a printed photo or illustration. It can also be used with optical character recognition (OCR) software to process printed documents into electronic text without having to manually type them in through a keyboard.

History
led development of early flatbed scanner hardware in the 1970s for the purpose of optical character recognition for the visually impaired. The resulting device, the Kurzweil Reading Machine, was a large tabletop device that was introduced in 1976 with the ability to scan an inch-high strip of text at a time with 64 kilobytes of memory.

Apple Computer introduced its own first Apple Scanner in August 1988, leading to a succession of flatbed scanners. However, co-founder Steve Jobs discontinued the costly product line in 1997 upon rejoining Apple to return the company to profitability. Stand-alone consumer scanners have since been largely supplanted by all-in-one multifunction devices that incorporate a printer, allowing them to function as home office photocopiers.

Articles

 * Scanning the Scene with a Flatbed Scanner by Jason Walsh at Low End Mac (2004-08-18)