The Stickiness of Language: How PostScript Became the DNA of Printing
In the 1980s, something revolutionary happened in the world of printing. Adobe’s PostScript emerged, and it wasn’t just a tool — it became the universal language of printers. Much like a shared DNA strand among species, PostScript provided a common foundation that allowed diverse printers to communicate effectively with computers. It didn’t just define how images and text should appear on a page; it became a bridge between ideas and physical expression, transcending the limitations of its time.
The Birth of PostScript
PostScript was born out of necessity during a period when personal computing was just beginning to flourish. Designers, publishers, and engineers faced a frustrating problem: inconsistency. A document that looked perfect on a screen often ended up distorted or misaligned when printed. Fonts would change. Layouts would shift. Precision was elusive.
Adobe’s founders, John Warnock and Chuck Geschke, saw an opportunity to address this. They envisioned a device-independent language capable of describing text, graphics, and images in a precise and scalable manner. PostScript did just that. It wasn’t just a programming language for printers; it was a declaration that every dot and every curve mattered.
Survival Through Evolution
Technological innovation is often Darwinian. Countless standards and formats have come and gone, yet PostScript has survived. Why? Because it was adaptable. It wasn’t tied to specific hardware or a narrow set of use cases. Instead, it embraced modularity and scalability. This flexibility allowed it to evolve alongside the hardware it supported.
Over the decades, as printers evolved — becoming faster, more precise, and even digital — PostScript evolved with them. It influenced the creation of Portable Document Format (PDF), another ubiquitous standard that has further cemented its legacy. Though newer systems like PCL and XPS have emerged, PostScript’s foundation remains relevant, a testament to its robustness and foresight.
Language as a Cultural Force
What’s fascinating about PostScript isn’t just its survival — it’s the broader lesson it teaches us about the stickiness of languages. Human languages, too, persist across generations and adapt to the changing environments in which they are used. Latin, for instance, remains the root of modern Romance languages despite its status as “dead.” Similarly, English has adapted to the internet age, evolving into a global lingua franca.
Technical languages like PostScript reflect this same phenomenon. They embed themselves in workflows, ecosystems, and even our expectations. Once a language becomes part of the infrastructure, it’s no small task to replace it. Compatibility becomes king, and systems built on that language gain a kind of immortality. Just as modern species carry genetic markers of their ancestors, today’s printing technology bears the unmistakable imprint of PostScript.
Lessons for the Future
The story of PostScript underscores a principle that resonates far beyond printing: foundational technologies endure because they solve fundamental problems. They’re not just tools; they’re enablers of creativity and progress. Whether in healthcare, artificial intelligence, or communications, the most impactful technologies are those that define standards, provide interoperability, and anticipate the future.
As we look to the next era of innovation, from quantum computing to AI-driven systems, we can draw inspiration from PostScript. The languages we create today could become the DNA of tomorrow’s infrastructure. And if history is any guide, those that are modular, scalable, and universally adaptable will endure.
In the grand story of technological evolution, PostScript’s journey is a reminder that language — whether spoken, written, or coded — is the thread that connects generations. And sometimes, the simplest, most elegant solutions are the ones that stick, surviving the test of time and the march of progress.