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c) Who wants to copy a document on paper?

25.03.2019

 

Working at a New York patent department, Chester F. Carlson frequently had to copy specifications and drawings by hand. Tired of this frustrating method, he decided to come up with a more convenient alternative. Despite suffering from arthritis, he set up a lab, first in the closet and later in the kitchen of his tiny apartment, and started experimenting. On October 22nd, 1938, he made the first electrophotographic image on wax paper. Over the next 6 years, he offered the rights to the process to every major equipment company in the country, only to be turned down every time. One of the rejection letters read:

"Who the hell wants to copy a document on plain paper?"

Even the National Inventors Council dismissed the idea. Eventually, the Haloid company acquired the rights to the copying process and changed the name 'electrophotography' to 'Xerography'. Soon, Haloid changed its own name to Xerox Company.

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