Xerox Today-and Tomorrow?

What communications tool was once deemed useless, then became ubiquitous and is now redundant? The Xerox machine, which Fortune magazine has called “the most successful product ever marketed in America."

According to CNN, it was once believed that there was no need for an office photocopier, because consultants assessing its market potential overlooked the real early adopters: corporate America's support staff, who in fact LOVED the ability to easily produce reams of “originals.” (It certainly made the production of press releases a thousand times easier, when I started in the business!) Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Xerox machine is increasingly being displaced by full-function printers.

"The use of paper has radically changed. It used to be archival. Now, it's not," says Xerox VP Steve Hoover. "The average document in the office, when it's printed, has a life of about two days."

In fact, Xerox no longer makes a copier-only machine. It’s definitely the end of an era!

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