#110 Copier Issues

Technology is a force to be reckoned with. It is in our everyday lives, and is nearly impossible to avoid.

At my office there are several "copy" machines which are used for making copies, printing, faxing, and scanning. Don't get me started about faxing, but using this machine is pretty straightforward. This type of machine has been around for at least a decade, so people who have been in office settings for quite some time should be accustomed to them.

However, this is apparently not the case. My desk is situated within earshot of this multipurpose machine, and people are routinely perplexed by the multitude of functions available. They are also frustrated when something goes wrong, and just look at the machine as if their eyes should be able to solve the problem rather than following some simple steps in order to resolve the issue.

For example, according to this Wikipedia page, the US and Canada are the only countries that have not adopted the ISO standard for paper sizes. In this day and age of global business practices, it should be expected that some documents will get formatted to an "A4" or other ISO paper size. So when they are printed in the US or Canada the printers don't recognize this size and require assistance from the user. I don't usually think to check the document size before I print so I wouldn't expect anyone else to check either, but the printer starts freaking out and beeping and flashing lights to alert the user that there was an error and some assistance is required. There's a bright red button that you have to push and select an alternate paper size because that paper size isn't already loaded in the printer. LITERALLY it's just two steps, but people just can't seem to figure it out or comprehend what happened!

There is also someone in my office who regularly has to scan documents. However, the sheets of paper this person receives to scan are always crinkled up with corners folded and dirty and just overall not very "flat" pieces of paper. This person tries to use the auto-feed feature where the printer sucks the paper in, scans it, then spits it back out, but since the sheets of paper are so untidy they tend to jam the machine which makes the process take longer and results in this person swearing at the machine under their breath.

Also, adding paper to the machine..... I really fail to see the difficulty in this task, however yesterday someone managed to fill the machine with paper on THE OTHER SIDE of the plastic divider that holds the paper in place. But seriously, don't get me started on printer paper replenishment. This person just could NOT figure out why their document didn't print even though they JUST loaded the printer full of paper.