Xerox : Not A Synonym Of Photocopy But A Part Of History
For the longest time, I used the word “Xerox” when referring to a re copied document. Or when I go “Hey please Xerox this for me.” I did not know any better then. But when I finally did, I found out how wrong I was when it came to speech and grammar. Later I realized that Xerox was actually a brand of a photocopying machine. But due to its success and popularity, it will most likely be able to replace the verb “photocopy” in the books and just stick to the word “Xerox” instead.
This brand came to life because of the frustration and drive of Chester Carlson. He is a research engineer and a lawyer who worked in New York City. His job entailed him to make numerous copies of important documents. It was a one man task. He knew it would be a tough thing to do. Unless he would hire several other men. He did not have that option though. So this motivated him to come up with the Xerox machine and trash the sluggish mimeograph machine.
The Xerox machine works by physically conveying a part of the ink on the texts of the original paper. The letter on the document are drawn to a moistened thin sheet or paper through pressing them together.
Xerox was founded by the Haloid Photographic Company of Rochester. Consequently, the name was changed to Haloid Xerox during the year 1958 then eventually to Xerox by the year 1961. Until now, it is fondly called as Xerox which has gained heights when it comes to the photocopying business.
Despite the success, the company is still continuous in terms of developing their craft. They began with Xerox 914 which is the first ever plain paper photocopier that made use of the Elector-photography process. Later on, they innovated into creating the Xerox 2400. From the name itself, it can reproduce 2400 copies of documents in a span of one hour. This was known to be the Automatic Document Feeder, Slitter/Perforator and Collator. Moreover, it created the Xerox 3600 which can already speak for itself.
The company, although very thankful for the support of the society still suggests to refrain from using the word “Xerox” when referring to copied documents. This is for security purpose and misquotations. But what they would like for the community to do is to continue patronizing the brand who has painted the history and leaving several thousands of copies behind.
