The Mega Brands That Built America Recap for Rise of the Office Machines

 

-The service economy took off in the 1940s, which allowed more people to work, get an education and be in an office environment.  Bosses would dictate notes to secretaries, who would, in turn, write down what was said in shorthand and type out copies.

 

-Haloid was a struggling photography paper business. Kodak was their biggest competitor and Joseph C. Wilson wanted to work together. However, Kodak was not interested, so he met with Chester Carlson, who showed him how to make copies better and faster….xerography….or Xerox to those in the know.

 

Despite it being a good product, it was cumbersome and impossible to make it commercially. Joseph is intrigued. He agrees to work with Chester and buys the patent for ten thousand dollars.

 

The first thing the guys do is make the product ready for mass production, which is easier said than done.

 

Around this time, accounting machines, typewriters and other such products are being released, making Joseph all the more determined to get a product on the market, putting himself in debt. He finally gets the Xerox 914 created but now needs to make more.

 

Joseph meets with Thomas Watson, Jr., of IBM fame.  At the time, IBM is leading the charge in computers.  At first, Thomas isn’t too keen on it, until he sees it makes perfect copies. However, he still passes on it, so Joseph is on his own….until he meets a man from AMF. This man says people rent the pin machines for bowling alleys, which gives Joseph the idea to rent out his machines…AND change the name of the company to Haloid Xerox.

During one of the big demos, the machine goes on fire…..but 1000 machines are ordered for production immediately. There will be a fire extinguisher or scorch eliminator with each machine.

 

200,000 are leased worldwide within a year, with one in the White House! The company switches its name to Xerox as it becomes more successful. It is work millions in the mid 1960s.

 

IBM now wants in on the action, with Thomas regretting not collaborating with Joseph. He decides to come out with his own copier.

 

Cue Joseph calling legal when he hears the news. It becomes a complicated process, so Joseph decides to take the Xerox to the next level….by meeting with a think tank in California.

Computers are becoming popular, so he wants in on the action. Joseph then meets with Bob Taylor, who explains how they work and how they communicate in real time.  They throw ideas around to make a new computer.

 

Sadly, Jospeh would die of a heart attack, so his team must take over.

 

IBM decides to work on the personal computer idea once they hear what Xerox is doing.

 

Xerox’s think tank comes out with the Alto, the very first PC. It has different icons for files, deleted files and more, making it better than office computers. It even has a mouse which helps using the PC even easier. They can even connect across offices….but will make the Xerox machine obsolete.

 

Xerox was not too keen on this, so the idea goes to a man we know as Steve Jobs…who would take the world of computers by storm. He’d already released his own Apple computer for casual home users.

They make a deal and everyone wins!

 

IBM gets wind of this and comes out with their own desktop computer.

 

Xerox comes out with the Xerox Star, which is a disaster due to the expense. They are out of the computer game.

 

IBM works with Microsoft, namely, Bill Gates to come out with their PC in 1981. It is a hit and selling like hotcakes.  It even becomes Time Magazine’s Machine of the year…..and worth billions.

 

However, Microsoft and Macintosh win the computer game in the long run, while IBM works on other industrial research products….and still worth billions.

 

Xerox is still the leader in the copier and printer movement, also worth billions.