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Xerox Corp., universally known as one of the worldâs leading makers of photocopiers, embarked on a multi-million dollar marketing and branding campaign to shrug off its image as a copier maker and instead highlight its software products, colour printers and other cutting-edge products.
As one of the most visible steps in this direction, the company unveiled a new logo and called it the greatest transformation of the companyâs identity in its chequered history. The all-capitalized corporate name in red, which had been used in various versions for 14 years, has been replaced with a lowercase version.
From being the top manufacturer of photocopiers, the $16-billion enterprise is now a diversified document management technology and service enterprise making printing and publishing systems, multi-function devices (MFPs), laser and solid ink network printers, copiers and fax machines. Xerox also has a very deep service portfolio.
As one of the most visible steps in this direction, the company unveiled a new logo and called it the greatest transformation of the companyâs identity in its chequered history. The all-capitalized corporate name in red, which had been used in various versions for 14 years, has been replaced with a lowercase version.
From being the top manufacturer of photocopiers, the $16-billion enterprise is now a diversified document management technology and service enterprise making printing and publishing systems, multi-function devices (MFPs), laser and solid ink network printers, copiers and fax machines. Xerox also has a very deep service portfolio.
A news report from Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUST36097720080115) indicates that Konica Minolta of Japan had entered into an agreement with photocopier and printer manufacturer Oce NV of Holland to jointly supply MFPs (typically a combination of printer, copier, scanner and fax machine) and digital commercial printers.
As per the report, the two companies will supply each other with these products on an OEM basis, which means that Oce could be selling products manufactured by Konica Minolta under its own name, and vice versa.
The impact of the deal on the sales revenues of the two companies or geographical limitations, if any, are not known.
As per the report, the two companies will supply each other with these products on an OEM basis, which means that Oce could be selling products manufactured by Konica Minolta under its own name, and vice versa.
The impact of the deal on the sales revenues of the two companies or geographical limitations, if any, are not known.
With the digital revolution well into its second decade, the promise of establishing a paperless office threatened to put the ubiquitous photocopier out of commission (well, not literally). Yet, the usefulness of a photocopier that has served individuals and businesses alike for over four decades, couldnât be diminished so quickly.
Interestingly, just as there were doubts cast over the continued utility of the photocopier following the digital revolution, the origin of the machine itself was in considerable doubt.
The photocopier had humble beginnings as an aide to patent officer Chester Carlson in the 1940s. An interesting article [hyperlink to http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/2001/04/chesters_dream.html?t=archive ] by Katrina C.Arabe traces the evolution of this office productivity booster machine from its very beginning. This article is an edited excerpt of the aforementioned piece.
The saying necessity is the mother of invention held true in the case of Chester Carlson also, since he was literally forced by the onset of arthritis to devise some means to automatically copy the innumerable documents that had to be handled at the patent office.
Having been educated at the California Institute of Technology, Carlson had the requisite technical know-how to determine the right approach to take for inventing a device that could fulfill his objectives. Instead of looking at approaches related to photography, he decided to focus on the field of photoconductivity, where research had showed that light conductivity increased when it struck the surface of certain materials.
Carlson believed that the principle could be put to use. By projecting an image on to a photoconductive surface and thus making the current to flow only in areas hit directly by the light, he felt that an image/ copy of a document could be created on another material. Carlson and his assistant Otto Kornei, a German physicist, experimented with numerous photoconductive materials. Below is an excerpt from the article mentioned above, describing the worldâs first recorded photocopy.
The breakthrough moment for Chester arrived inauspiciously. He and Otto had taken a zinc plate and coated it with sulfur. Sulfur does not conduct electricity but it does conduct a small amount of charge. Otto wrote the words "10-22-38 Astoria" in ink on a microscope slide and then placed the slide on top of the sulfur and held it under a bright light for several seconds. Once the slide was removed, Otto then covered the sulfur-coated surface with lycopodium powder which is comprised of the spores of a fungus. When the powder was blown off, a mirror image of the words on the slide was revealed. To preserve this image, Carlson took wax paper and heated it over the remaining powder. As soon as the wax cooled, Carlson peeled the page away. The phrase had been perfectly reproduced. The words had become the world's first photocopy.
While Carlson was smart enough to immediately patent the photocopying technique, the idea did not find favor with some of the big technology companies. It took another six years and a non-profit research firm Battelle Memorial Institute to explore the idea further. Together with a small manufacturer by the name of Haloid, the Institute worked on developing the technology for the next four years. Effectively 10 years after the first photocopy was made, the first public demonstration of the technology was made. The earliest photocopier made its entry into the market a year later in 1949; an inefficient machine that took more than three quarters of a minute to generate a copy. The process got baptized as Xerogrpahy and the company Haloid Xerox.
Subsequently, developments with the photocopier became much faster and in another ten years time, the first automated photocopier hit the market- the Model 914. Within two years, led by photocopier sales, the company had generated over $60 million; in fact in a span of six years the photocopier company (which had renamed itself to Xerox by then) had exceeded revenues of $500 million.
The photocopier, another accidental invention, had made indeed made its mark.
[In a subsequent part, we will trace the changes to the photocopier post-1965 including the transition to the digital generation].
Interestingly, just as there were doubts cast over the continued utility of the photocopier following the digital revolution, the origin of the machine itself was in considerable doubt.
The photocopier had humble beginnings as an aide to patent officer Chester Carlson in the 1940s. An interesting article [hyperlink to http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/2001/04/chesters_dream.html?t=archive ] by Katrina C.Arabe traces the evolution of this office productivity booster machine from its very beginning. This article is an edited excerpt of the aforementioned piece.
The saying necessity is the mother of invention held true in the case of Chester Carlson also, since he was literally forced by the onset of arthritis to devise some means to automatically copy the innumerable documents that had to be handled at the patent office.
Having been educated at the California Institute of Technology, Carlson had the requisite technical know-how to determine the right approach to take for inventing a device that could fulfill his objectives. Instead of looking at approaches related to photography, he decided to focus on the field of photoconductivity, where research had showed that light conductivity increased when it struck the surface of certain materials.
Carlson believed that the principle could be put to use. By projecting an image on to a photoconductive surface and thus making the current to flow only in areas hit directly by the light, he felt that an image/ copy of a document could be created on another material. Carlson and his assistant Otto Kornei, a German physicist, experimented with numerous photoconductive materials. Below is an excerpt from the article mentioned above, describing the worldâs first recorded photocopy.
The breakthrough moment for Chester arrived inauspiciously. He and Otto had taken a zinc plate and coated it with sulfur. Sulfur does not conduct electricity but it does conduct a small amount of charge. Otto wrote the words "10-22-38 Astoria" in ink on a microscope slide and then placed the slide on top of the sulfur and held it under a bright light for several seconds. Once the slide was removed, Otto then covered the sulfur-coated surface with lycopodium powder which is comprised of the spores of a fungus. When the powder was blown off, a mirror image of the words on the slide was revealed. To preserve this image, Carlson took wax paper and heated it over the remaining powder. As soon as the wax cooled, Carlson peeled the page away. The phrase had been perfectly reproduced. The words had become the world's first photocopy.
While Carlson was smart enough to immediately patent the photocopying technique, the idea did not find favor with some of the big technology companies. It took another six years and a non-profit research firm Battelle Memorial Institute to explore the idea further. Together with a small manufacturer by the name of Haloid, the Institute worked on developing the technology for the next four years. Effectively 10 years after the first photocopy was made, the first public demonstration of the technology was made. The earliest photocopier made its entry into the market a year later in 1949; an inefficient machine that took more than three quarters of a minute to generate a copy. The process got baptized as Xerogrpahy and the company Haloid Xerox.
Subsequently, developments with the photocopier became much faster and in another ten years time, the first automated photocopier hit the market- the Model 914. Within two years, led by photocopier sales, the company had generated over $60 million; in fact in a span of six years the photocopier company (which had renamed itself to Xerox by then) had exceeded revenues of $500 million.
The photocopier, another accidental invention, had made indeed made its mark.
[In a subsequent part, we will trace the changes to the photocopier post-1965 including the transition to the digital generation].