Alternate realities

A photocopier is a machine used to make a hard copy of documents very cheaply. Photocopiers find immense use in schools, government offices and other large scale offices. Photocopiers have undergone a series of changes and most photocopiers today use a process called “xerography” for making copies. Xerography is a dry process and uses heated powder to make copies of the original documents. Some photocopiers also make use of printing techniques such as the “ink jet” technique, but xerography remains the most widespread technique for copying.

The history of photocopying dates back to the late 18th century. James Watt invented the first ever copying machine in 1779. This simple machine transferred some of the ink from the original document onto the copied document. The copied document could then be read from the obverse side. The ink used in the original document was a specially formulate ink and was used to write those documents which required copying. The first copying machine was a commercial success and it incentivized research and development of photocopiers.

The invention of commercial photocopying can be dated back to 1938, when Chester Carlson had developed a method of copying using photoconductivity and electrophotography. Chester was arthritic and was employed with the patent office in New York. His job required him to make multiple copies of patents. Since copying in those days was restricted to the use of carbon papers or manual copying. This was a tedious process and prompted Chester to experiment with photoconductivity. He was successful in devising a method of copying using Zinc plates covered with sulfur. He patented his invention and tried to sell it to the big wigs of that era (IBM and GE), but was unsuccessful. This was, however, mankind’s first tryst with a photocopier.

It was after 5 years of improvement on the invention that a small New York based company called Haloid Corporation decided to refine the process of electrophotography. Haloid launched the first photocopiers that made use of electrophotography in 1944. Thus, the photocopier was born. Haloid eventually interchanged the use of the word “electrophotography” with a more chic sounding word “Xerography” which literally means “dry writing”. Haloid launched their photocopier machine under the name “Xerox”. Xerox was such a tremendous success that Haloid Corporation eventually changed its name to Xerox Corporation. The term “Xerox” was trademarked in the year 1948. This era saw the commercial launch of the erstwhile photocopier machine as we know it today.

It was in the year 1949 that the first xerographic photocopier was introduced by Xerox. It was an instant success and caught up with the public. People had readily taken to this easy and relatively cheap alternative to manual copying. The term Xerox was being used interchangeably with copying and it was during the 1950s that the term “Xeroxing” was commonly used to refer to the act of photocopying. Many dictionaries had listed “Xerox” as a synonym of photocopying. Xerox Corporation would typically request the restriction on the usage of the word Xerox as a generalized term. However, the Xerox photocopier machine had become so popular that “Xerox” was assumed to refer to the act of photocopying by default.