Lessons from the Xerox-914: the first real copy machine

Carlson did chemical experiments in his own home, to the frustration of his family and neighbours. He mad smelly compounds, melting sulfur over zinc plates in the kitchen smelling like rotten eggs, and once even starting a fire.

Carlson used Selényi’s ideas (more or less to use light to remove static charge, not create it) and his own. After many experiments, he had a breakthrough and created the first copy in 1938.

• Once patented, Carlson was turned down by 20 companies between 1939 and 1944, including IBM and the U.S. Navy.
• Carlson continued to work in patents at the P.R. Mallory Company and demonstrated his work to an engineer from Battelle, who was there to testify for a patent case. Batelle was impressed and offered financial support.
• In 1946 they signed a deal with Haloid (later renamed Xerox). In 1948 they released the Xerox Model A Copier that took 39 steps to make a single copy.

Another decade of development produced the Xerox 914 - named because it could copy paper up to 9″ x 14″. This model was simple to use and didn't damage originals.

As with most new tech, it had some problems. It tended to overheat and often came with a fire extinguisher. The machines required a small team of people who maintained them. But relative to competitors, it was a breakthrough in many ways.