"We ourselves are copies."
Description:
"The first plain-paper office copier--which was introduced in 1960 and has been called the most successful product ever marketed in America--is unusual among major high-technology inventions in that its central process was conceived by a single person. David Owen's fascinating narrative tells the story of the machine nobody thought was needed but now we can't live without.
Chester Carlson grew up in unspeakable poverty, worked his way through junior college and the California Institute of Technology, and made his discovery in solitude in the depths of the Great Depression. He offered his big idea to two dozen major corporations -- among them IBM, RCA, and General Electric -- all of which turned him down. So persistent was this failure of capitalist vision that by the time the Xerox 914 was manufactured by an obscure photographic-supply company in Rochester, New York, Carlson's original patent had expired. Xerography was so unusual and nonintuitive that it conceivably could have been overlooked entirely. Scientists who visited the drafty warehouses where the first machines were built sometimes doubted that Carlson's invention was even theoretically feasible.
Drawing on interviews, Xerox company archives, and the private papers of the Carlson family, David Owen has woven together a fascinating and instructive story about persistence, courage, and technological innovation -- a story that has never before been fully told." - from the inside flap
My thoughts:
I found this to be a fascinating read about the ways new ideas take hold in not only someone's mind but in our lives. Carlson's determination and drive plus the hard work from others, particularly the Haloid company executives and employees, brought this untested idea into life. I especially liked the part concerning the makeshift building of the first Xerox 914 copiers and how they expected the average use to be about two thousand copies per month and were surprised that it was at least four times that amount. Owen also clearly describes the history of writing, the printing press, and other forms of duplication.
Date read: 6/12/2026
Genre: Nonfiction
Rating: 4*/5
ISBN-10: 0743251172
ISBN-13: 9780743251174
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Year: 2004
# of pages: 306
Binding: Hardcover
LibraryThing page
