One piece of technology which has yet to outlive its usefulness is the desktop copier. Although it has been around (first as the mimeograph machine) for decades, the desktop copier still has not been replaced by more sophisticated gadget such as the scanner and printer combination, simply because it provides such a simple, and relatively cheap way to make duplicates of any kind of document. But, unlike more high-tech components,  desktop copiers are not in the habit of continuously descending in price, so care is required in choosing the one which is right for your needs. Fortunately, as most  desktop copiers are really only needed to make rather simple, black and white copies of documents, an affordable one is rather easy for you to find if you need it.

I have a friend who runs an infoshop stocked with used desktop copiers, as well as many other high and low tech gadgets for people to use in making and distributing zines and political information. Until I talked to her about it, I did not realize how easy it could be to find desktop copiers for little or nothing. Apparently, most of the desktop copiers that they posses in that shop were found by people on the side of the road or in old apartments, completely abandoned. They were then donated to the infoshop where they would be accessible by the whole community at once for making there own projects. Even the desktop copiers that were bought by their previous owners, were often available cheaply at second hand. And yet, the desktop copiers are still all functional, and many of them produce quite good image quality.

Of course, the problem with old desktop copiers is that they break down now and then. If you do not have the patience or the skills to tinker with and fix them, perhaps you would be better off getting a new desktop copier. One of the best things about new desktop copiers is how sharp the images have gotten. It is amazing that, through simply and quickly scanning a piece of paper, desktop copiers can produce images of the quality that they can. They even can produce full-color images, but the ink used in this is still kind of expensive. People who own full color desktop copiers usually only use the color feature for certain very special applications, and xerox almost everything else in black and white.