What does "scan once, print many" mean? Anyone? Bueller ... ? Back in the good old days of analog copiers, pagers and dinosaurs, the scanner on copiers needed to take a “picture” for every copy made: When 10 copies were requested, the scanner moved across the original 10 times. You can imagine how this added to the wear and tear of a device and repeated, on-site service.
Once devices became digital, the need to scan for each copy ended. Instead, one picture was taken, digitized and available to print for each image requested.
It was a common demo technique to place an original on the glass, touch 10 copies, and while the batch was being output, raise the ADF. In the analog world, this act would result in copies of open lids and black space. Prospects were known to gasp because the digital photocopier kept churning out copies of the original, even with the lid raised.
On July 30, 1976, American Bruce Jenner wins gold in the decathlon at the Montreal Olympics. His 8,617 points set a world record in the event. Previously identifying publicly as male, Jenner revealed her identity as a trans woman in April 2015, publicly announcing her name change from Bruce to Caitlyn in a July 2015 Vanity Fair cover story.
Everything changes, baby that's a fact - when we refuse to see the impact of the shift, we call it 'disruption'. Worse, if we misread the writing on the wall, becoming overly optimistic, expectations do not meet reality. Disappointment ensues. There's so much to say about the consolidation movement going on in our little niche but if you ask me, the future is neither bright nor dark - it is simply the way it was always meant to be.
For years Xerox has been buying up dealerships. Lexmark sold out to a communist country. The toner-dudes jumped to one big ship. Ricoh assimilated Ikon, Canon did Oce, Konica Minolta ate Muratec and ECi is forming the Galactic Empire, collecting software like so many green M&M's.
How will all this impact the everyday salesperson? How about contracts, sales, and service managers? Perhaps a radical makeover is in around the corner?
See Your Future in the Past -
When automotive robots started painting vehicles, some saw this as the end of labor. The machine possessed advantages over their human predecessors - no vacation, no sick time, or union squabbles with consistent performance. Formidable, but we survived.
When the PC/Word processor began to erode typewriter sales, receptionists around the globe disappeared within a decade, and we survived.
When Bruce turned into Jennifer, we survived.
We envision the future as we see ourselves: perhaps through the lens of July 1976, or from the perspective of April 2015. Which is better? Time will tell.
When the world looks back on the Age of Paper, protests, and pontifications lamenting its passing will be nothing more than a footnote.
All I can suggest is in a turbulent world, knowing who you are, is paramount.
