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The Sex Appeal Of Copiers May 20, 2003
People want a copy experience that's faster, cheaper, and, apparently,
easier on the eye.

By Jim Nash



Consider the lowly copier. So central to all that we do and yet it is the
object of such derision. Few would quibble that it has grown to become a
sophisticated machine, but, it seems, short of putting a jinni inside, the
copier doesn't live up to many office workers' expectations. And for at
least a few of our more libidinous officemates, it may never hit the mark.



Lanier Worldwide, a maker of copiers, scanners, and the like, hired a
market-intelligence firm to find out what buyers want in a future copier,
and the results are a little surprising.



The survey, conducted this month by Crescendo Partners, indicates that most
people want copiers to move faster, be cheaper to operate, and give better
images. No surprise there. They also want error messages that don't require
the Rosetta stone to decipher. Anyone who's ever hesitated to use a copier
because the person sitting closest to it (and therefore was the de facto
expert on the thing) was away could tell you that.



But more than one response among the 401 collected by Crescendo indicated
that the better copier will have a better-looking repair person. No further
details were collected on this response. Maybe the low-rider fashion
sensation doesn't translate to the office-equipment-repair set. Be that as
it may, here are the actual findings, compliments of Lanier.



Faster speed: 15.4%

Higher image quality: 14.1%

Clearer error messages: 12.4%

Easier-to-fix paper jams: 11.7%

Network connectivity: 10.5%

Lower cost per copy: 8.8%

Higher reliability and less downtime: 7.1%

More intuitive control panels: 6.9%

Tidier toner cartridges: 5.9%

Better-looking repair person: 2.8%

More responsive service: 2.3%

Kevin Doyle
Key Dealer Sales Manager
Ricoh Corporation
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