Have you ever thought what a challenge it would be to produce a
ruggedized printer for use with a mobile handheld PDA? Think about the environment they are used in; rain, snow, dust, spilled coffee, climbing in-and-out of vehicles all day, dropping it on the bathroom floor when your belt is loose. I am sure the folks at
O'Niel have a million stories they laugh about or cry about when customers are not around.
For those who feel
"rugged" is not good enough for them,
O'Niel Portable Printers offer the
"Ultra-Rugged" line of
microFlash printers.
These printers are also called "wearable" printers and they can be clipped to your belt.
Hummm...what if you don't wear a belt? Where would you clip it? Perhaps you also need
ruggedized clothing to support your
ruggedized printer? These are popular with the route delivery folks who are leaving proof-of-delivery receipts with digital signatures. They can also be used for sales receipts, service requests and letters to your mother. That's an idea, a very short curled letter to mom.
Since these printers are "wearable" I wonder if you need to
accessorize them? Do they come with matching handheld computers, styluses? Are there different colors, patterns and textures....I guess black goes with everything.
MobileDataforce develops customized mobile software solutions for companies, and these kinds of rugged, or ultra-rugged printers are often part of the solution. In this article I discuss a
project we did for a company that manages parking garages and city parking meters.
In an earlier article I wrote about
PrinTekMobile's FieldPro Printer.
Zebra also offers rugged and wearable printers.