Cooper Case
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In the mid-1980s, Adobe, one of the leading graphic design software companies, established a de facto standard with its Postscript technology. The technology provided an interface between a computer program and an output device. In other words, it told an output device such as a printer what a printed page should look like. It became popular primarily because it was the first program that brought different output devices together to establish some sort of standardization. For example, software developers who did not use Postscript had to write separate programs for each printer that their application supported. Because this proved to be extremely tedious and usually unprofitable, Postscript emerged as a de facto standard. Another reason that can be attributed to Postscript's success is the fact that it supported multiple resolutions. This was important to graphic designers because it allowed for cheaper printing. A third reason for Postscript's success was that the technology was "open" or free for anyone to use. Thus, because many people implemented the technology within their systems, it rose in popularity, eventually becoming the de facto standard...