Xerography inventor Carlson to be inducted into Hall of Fame

Xerography inventor Carlson to be inducted into Hall of Fame

By ANDREA DECKERT

Rochester Business Journal

October 5, 2011

Chester Carlson, who changed the way the world shares information, will be inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame, on Oct. 6, in Appleton, Wis., Xerox Corp. said Wednesday.

The late Carlson, the inventor of xerography, will be honored for his process of plain paper copying.
 
The hall of fame recognizes individuals who, through their inventions, initiative and efforts, have helped the world’s paper industry flourish.  

Carlson patented the copying concept in 1937, and in 1944 teamed with the Battelle Institute in Ohio to develop the technology. In 1947 he formed a licensing agreement with the Haloid Corp., which later became Xerox.

The world’s first plain paper copier, the Xerox 914, was launched in 1959. The device was dubbed by Fortune magazine as one of “the most successful product ever marketed in America.”
 
In 1955, four years before the introduction of the Xerox 914, 20 million copies were made worldwide; in 1964, five years after the Xerox 914 was introduced, 9.5 billion copies were made worldwide, almost all xerographic. That number grew to 550 billion copies in 1984, and today trillions of copies are made around the world each year, Xerox said. 
 
(c) 2011 Rochester Business Journal.