I started selling in the copier industry back in the early 90′s. At the time we were only selling analog copiers that had your basic features, but the real revenue was in the service and supplies. The more copies that a customer made the more toner and paper they would consume. I remember in the early meetings we used to hear that the paperless office was only a few years away and the copier industry would need to redefine itself or go the way of the 8 track. It was amazing to see the amount of copies that were done as the digital copiers and printers came around the demand to print increased 10 fold increasing the need and demand for printer cartridges. The copier industry developed the technology to link in the copiers to the networks and act as high end, high feature copier/printers. Thus the multifuntional systems were born. Even ink jet printers and inkjet cartridges went through the roof and the competition got fierce.
As email became more commonplace in the offices people were less reliant upon just reading their email on the screen but they printed everything out. This increased the amount of paper and ink and inkjet printer cartridges being used in the office. This helped to introduce companies that offered recycled printer and toner cartridges to come onto the market to sell after market supplies for your copier, fax, or printer. Most will provide a 100% guarantee against defects for one full year and that all their ink and toner cartridges are compatible with your systems.
Interesting. Didn’t one of the guys in Ghost Busters say, “print is dead”?
“Paperless” is still a myth – but the next couple of generations of workers and business leaders may be more apt to getting ALL of their information off of a screen – I doubt it.
Humans seem to require or at least prefer some sort of tactile connection…
Time will tell, I guess.