Xerox...and what it has led to :)

This week's letter of the alphabet is X. Ever since I first made notes about this blogging through the alphabet series when Amanda and Annette suggested it, I have had X filled in - with Xerox. Many of you today have a printer at home for your computer, and most of today's printers can also make copies. Hearken back a few decades to when I was a child. Computers were not in homes, they were at Universities, in large businesses, and some schools were just starting to get TRS80's to teach their students about this new computer age.

If you wanted a copy made, and you were attending a small school like mine, your teacher might use the mimeograph machine. They would write on a paper that turned into a stencil,  and then it would go around and around the drum of the machine and stick the colored ink, usually purple or green, to the papers for us to use in class. The problem? The chemicals stank and the pages would come out wet. Not to mention you could only copy the things that someone could write or draw.

BUT, there was this wonderful machine at the library, called a XEROX. It made actual copies in black of whatever page or picture you put in it. It was magical! :)

The very first xerographic image was made in 1938. Xerox released its first commercially available copier (the 914) in 1959. If you would like to read the history, Xerox has a lovely PDF you can access here.

What does all of this mean to me, and why am I so happy for the work Xerox has done over the years? Because today I can make a copy whenever I want, from the comfort of my home, on a small printer/ copier that I purchased for around $100. For a homeschooling Mama, Xerox (or its current competitor) is  lifesaver, and a timesaver. Our local library still has a copier that you can use, for 10 cents a page. While that is fairly inexpensive, having one at home is even better! Some day soon I will need a new printer. We've had this one for about 3 or 4 years, and with having used it for two high schooler students, plus numerous 4-H projects and blogging activities, it is showing its age.

Why the picture of the fish? Because I liked it! A little side note: just like I always had to go to the library to make xerox copies, you had to send away film to be processed. Today, we make copies of pages at home, and we can print our own photos from our digital cameras at home with the right kind of printer! Cool huh?! Sometimes, I really like technology. :)

Almost every home educating family I know has a copier at home. While the brands vary widely from Cannon to HP and others, one thing we can agree on is that they work. Thanks to the hard work of Xerox corporation, they work!  They make our lives easier, and that is truly a reason to be thankful!