{"id":8564,"date":"2018-10-22T12:52:10","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T16:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.elearninginside.com\/?p=8564"},"modified":"2019-06-26T07:42:27","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T11:42:27","slug":"80-years-ago-today-xerography-was-invented","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.elearninginside.com\/80-years-ago-today-xerography-was-invented\/","title":{"rendered":"80 Years Ago Today Xerography Was Invented"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Eighty years ago today, in a home laboratory in Astoria, Queens, Chester Carlson<\/a> invented a process that would come to be known as xerography. The process would provide the groundwork for the invention of copy machines. Copy machines still exist today, but they no longer rely on xerography and are generally considered an aging technology with limited functionality. This wasn’t the case in the mid- to late-twentieth century. For at least fifty years, work, education, and even politics were transformed by xerography.<\/p>\n

The Invention of the Copy Machine<\/h1>\n

Prior to the invention of the copy machine, creating a copy of any document was an onerous and messy process. In addition, existing methods, such as those carried out on mimeograph machines, required a master copy. This meant that you could only copy something if you had access to the master copy, and you could generally only make a limited number of copies before the master copy had to be replaced. With xerography, which literally means “dry writing,” copying underwent the greatest change since the invention of the printing press over five centuries earlier.<\/p>\n

With Carlson’s invention, one could now copy a copy or copy a copy of a copy of a copy. One could also copy other things, including objects and parts of their body. Better yet, with the invention of the copy machine, one no longer needed to mess around with chemicals. Anyone, even someone with no special training, could reproduce any document in seconds.<\/p>\n

Workplace Applications<\/h1>\n

Early on, copy machines were primarily promoted as a workplace technology. In fact, Xerox, which produced the earliest copy machines, actively attempted to promote copy machines as a viable way to replace one’s secretary. After all, why hire a female typist when you could purchase a machine that promised to be both more accurate and reliable? To fully appreciate just how sexist Xerox’s earliest campaigns were, one need only view one of Xerox’s vintage advertisements.<\/p>\n