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I worked at Xerox during this period and know and/or worked with all of the people in this article. Dealing with paper is a colossal PITA but it's why printers

I worked at Xerox during this period and know and/or worked with all of the people in this article. Dealing with paper is a colossal PITA but it's why printers and copiers exist so you have no choice. Xerox's strategy of building platforms that could be scaled helped somewhat but paper can act differently at different speeds so it's not a guarantee that scaling won't bring new challenges. Many years ago I worked on a small 14 ppm machine that was intended for worldwide distribution. We spent considerable time testing in "hot/wet" environmental chambers because in Brazil, where Xerox had a large factory and sold domestically, people would set up copiers on the sidewalk and sell copying to passersby. Damp paper is very different than dry paper and we had to be robust against it.

speeder 5y ago
Whoa! Never realised that was a thing, and I am thankful for you and your colleagues work. I am brazillian, and the reason we have those sidewalk copy shops is that a large amount of government bureaucracy (and we have a huge amount of these, according to the "ease to do business" there was years where we had the dubious honor of having most bureaucracy of all countries in the world) has paper copies of documents mandatory many government offices do not make copies for you but will happily tell you the nearby shops with Xerox machines (literally, here Xerox and photocopier is same thing). Even basic things like: open bank account, close bank account, get internet, or a new phone, require at least a Xerox copy of a bill in your name to prove you live nearby (yes, this sometimes result in circular reference, like power company wanting a power bill to start the contract). For more complex things like opening a company it is not rare to visit in person 5 different government offices taking with you 50+ pages of Xeroxed stuff (I know this from personal experience. Also closing a company is similarly nuts). So without these machines working perfectly we would all be screwed, sometimes a humid paper jam could mean you having to wait months to get a new appointment with government office to solve your problem. Or outright epic fines (for example if you needed copies to comply with regulations or taxes)
- gugagore 5y ago
  >(literally, here Xerox and photocopier is same thing). In case it was missed, the word for "photocopy" is "xerox" (like often "kleenex" is the word for "tissue").
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
Likewise I worked at a company whose business revolved around mail processing and high-speed paper handling. The problems caused by an ink that can dry fast enough to not smear when you're printing 200 pieces/minute drove a ridiculous amount of software design. OTOH, it was some of the most fun I've had at work.

speeder 5y ago

Whoa! Never realised that was a thing, and I am thankful for you and your colleagues work. I am brazillian, and the reason we have those sidewalk copy shops is that a large amount of government bureaucracy (and we have a huge amount of these, according to the "ease to do business" there was years where we had the dubious honor of having most bureaucracy of all countries in the world) has paper copies of documents mandatory many government offices do not make copies for you but will happily tell you the nearby shops with Xerox machines (literally, here Xerox and photocopier is same thing). Even basic things like: open bank account, close bank account, get internet, or a new phone, require at least a Xerox copy of a bill in your name to prove you live nearby (yes, this sometimes result in circular reference, like power company wanting a power bill to start the contract). For more complex things like opening a company it is not rare to visit in person 5 different government offices taking with you 50+ pages of Xeroxed stuff (I know this from personal experience. Also closing a company is similarly nuts). So without these machines working perfectly we would all be screwed, sometimes a humid paper jam could mean you having to wait months to get a new appointment with government office to solve your problem. Or outright epic fines (for example if you needed copies to comply with regulations or taxes)

gugagore 5y ago
>(literally, here Xerox and photocopier is same thing). In case it was missed, the word for "photocopy" is "xerox" (like often "kleenex" is the word for "tissue").
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago

Likewise I worked at a company whose business revolved around mail processing and high-speed paper handling. The problems caused by an ink that can dry fast enough to not smear when you're printing 200 pieces/minute drove a ridiculous amount of software design. OTOH, it was some of the most fun I've had at work.