Imagine a world where you have to copy each and every word from a book with your own hand-writing because there is no such machine that can do the job for you. Imagine a life where reproducing documents take a week to finish because you need five men to copy them and write them all down. One word: miserable. You better thank Chester Carlson. Chester who, you ask?

Due to his extreme frustration to the slothfulness of the mimeograph machine, Chester Carlson invented a new way of copying—an invention that changed the way of life for humans all over the world. Carlson, both a research engineer and a patent attorney, invented this because his job at New York City was to make a large number of copies of important papers. His need and frustration fueled him to make the Xerox machine, which works by physically transferring some of the ink from an original letter or drawing to a moistened thin sheet of paper by means of a press.

The history of Xerox photocopiers is simple yet very interesting. The Haloid Photographic Company of Rochester founded Xerox, and it actually went on to manufacture photographic paper and equipment. The company consequently changed its name to Haloid Xerox in 1958 and then plainly "Xerox" in 1961. Xerox reached its prominence when it introduced the Xerox 914, which is actually the first plain paper photocopier that utilized the process of Elector-photography.

Xerox's earliest venture into duplicating, as distinctive from copying, was with the Xerox 2400. The name Xerox 2400 means that this machine can create 2400 duplicates of a single document only in a span of one hour. This machine introduced the industry's first Automatic Document Feeder, Slitter/Perforator and Collator (sorter) although still some way short of offset speeds,. Due to the continuous demand for duplicating speed, it was eventually speeded up fifty percent more and was called the Xerox 3600 Duplicator.

Xerox became so famous that it is now used as a synonym for "photocopy" both in its noun and verb form. Sentences like “I just xeroxed your birth certificate” or “It was just a xerox of the original” can be heard in everyday conversations. The company, however, does not tolerate the common use of the word “Xerox” as a noun or verb as it might be used by the courts as a generic word. In fact, the company is engaged in the continuous acts of media and advertising to try to tell the public not to use Xerox as a verb.

The invention of the Xerox photocopier only proved that mankind has this natural desire towards change. The continuous invention of useful machines depict mans constant need for technology that can cope with man’s changing needs. The fame that this photocopy machine has garnered over the years only proves the longstanding history of Xerox photocopiers and its importance to our everyday lives. Hopefully, rain or shine, through thick and thin, the Xerox photocopier will be able to surpass all the challenges that the changing times will bring.