I gather one must not use Xerox as a verb, ie to Xerox, or they come after you to protect their brand name.
Two major consequences of all that defensive corporate effort over several decades were:
1. to make several lawyers wealthier and
Two major consequences of all that defensive corporate effort over several decades were:
1. to make several lawyers wealthier and
2. to take their eye off the ball, indulging in a series of expensive and irrelevant acquisitions, and losing their reputation for cutting-edge innovation in their core markets.
At one time, Xerox effectively owned the photocopier market, but then two Japanese companies ate their breakfast.
First Canon came in with the colour copier. Then Ricoh with the first digital copier. And both succeeded at Xerox’s expense with smaller machines, better attuned to customer needs.
To cap it all, as technology moved forward again, Hewlett-Packard arrived to dominate the office printer market.
So now, when you go “Xeroxing”, odds are you’ll actually be using a Canon or a Ricoh.
Luckily, a decade ago the company found a new CEO, Anne Mulcahy, who was able to re-focus and turn the business around. But even Mulcahy had a note of caution in returning Xerox to R&D-based innovation.
She said in an interview: “You can either sit and wait like Kodak or Fuji…It’s always more attractive to stay in the old technology from a profit standpoint. Always. But you’ll be going out of business.”
At one time, Xerox effectively owned the photocopier market, but then two Japanese companies ate their breakfast.
First Canon came in with the colour copier. Then Ricoh with the first digital copier. And both succeeded at Xerox’s expense with smaller machines, better attuned to customer needs.
To cap it all, as technology moved forward again, Hewlett-Packard arrived to dominate the office printer market.
So now, when you go “Xeroxing”, odds are you’ll actually be using a Canon or a Ricoh.
Luckily, a decade ago the company found a new CEO, Anne Mulcahy, who was able to re-focus and turn the business around. But even Mulcahy had a note of caution in returning Xerox to R&D-based innovation.
She said in an interview: “You can either sit and wait like Kodak or Fuji…It’s always more attractive to stay in the old technology from a profit standpoint. Always. But you’ll be going out of business.”
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