Unusual machines / why did they build it?

[JimHegs]

Mita DC-2055 series with the editing tablet on the top of the platen cover. You used the little plastic stylus that came with it to select areas of the copies to mask out. Totally useless function. Never ever saw it used...

I have had one of those edit pens sitting in the pencil cup on my desk for the past 8 or so years, I'm glad i'm not the only one who knows what they are. I never saw a customer use it either but it was cool on a demo.

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[Jules Winfield]

I haven't seen one of those in years...

[copyruss]

Way before digital copiers. Mita 900d Express. Was a modified 900d made to print reverse image transfers - like for t-shirts & coffee mugs. Had a second lense in the optics to achieve the reverse image. Special toner that was expensive as hell - like $45/gram. Had no clue it was a special machine until I ran a copy - imagine my surprise seeing a reverse image test chart that was in perfect focus. Just did a search and someone is trying to sell one!

Repos4Resale Repos4resale has just received an Xpres

[KenB]

There were a few...

1. Canon had a CFF (computer forms feeder) attachment for the NP6060. It was a tractor feed doc feeder that would copy onto letter sized paper at a preset reduction ratio.It would swing into place on a pivot.

I had precisely one of 'em, and it never worked from Day One.

2. Canon had a PC (DOS based) fax server around 1994 or so. All it ever did was constantly lock up, and the fax board it used, while a name brand, was a joke. It would only work with a Novell network with Windows 3.1 clients.

3. While a number of companies made them, G4 fax never did actually take off. When it worked, it was great - super fast and really good quality - but that's when it worked. There were so many different protocols out there that nobody ever standardized on one.

Sadly, I had a few of these - at a trucking company, a library, and a bank.

[10871087]

3. While a number of companies made them, G4 fax never did actually take off. When it worked, it was great - super fast and really good quality - but that's when it worked. There were so many different protocols out there that nobody ever standardized on one.

Since you bring up ill-conceived fax items:

Mita had an Ai-1515F forever ago that could send an 11x17 fax which was cool selling point for architects and design people. The problem was that the only way the feature actually worked was if the fax on the RX end was also a 1515F (which it never was). This was detail the sales rep never fully explained so I spent more then a few service calls explaining to customers why the people on the receiving end of the faxes would receive the fax "shrunk" down to 8.5x11.

It went something like this:

TECHNICIAN: You need another one of these machines on the receiving end for the 11x17 faxing to actually work.

CUSTOMER: Huh... the sale rep said it will send an 11x17 fax

TECHNICIAN: I'm sorry sir, the fax machine on the other end of the conversation has a max paper size of 8.5x11 so it is physically impossible for them to actually receive your document onto 11x17 paper

CUSTOMER: Huh... the sale rep said it will send an 11x17 fax, and my client said it came on the small paper on their end.

TECHNICIAN: Yes, I understand what you are saying but if the receiving fax can't even physically hold 11x17 paper then it certainly can't output onto 11x17 paper.

CUSTOMER: Huh... now I'm really confused... the sale rep said it will send an 11x17 fax, and my client said it came on the small paper on their end.

TECHNICIAN: The only time that feature can work is when there is another Ai-1515F on the receiving end of the fax.

CUSTOMER: Huh... the sale rep said it will send an 11x17 fax.

TECHNICIAN: I'll have the sales rep call you.

[Jules Winfield]

Oh my God, I almost forgot about perhaps the most ill conceived copier of all time: The Mita Ai-3030. Remember that piece of garbage? I don't know what was worse, the idiotic scanner on a separate frame design or the 50 screws you had to remove to get to the boards. Or the print system that only understood 10baseT and wouldn't work over a 10/100 hub...

[Lagonda]

A trip down memory lane!!
I'll add job card readers to the list. Installed a few but never ever saw one used.

[10871087]

Oh my God, I almost forgot about perhaps the most ill conceived copier of all time: The Mita Ai-3030. Remember that piece of garbage? I don't know what was worse, the idiotic scanner on a separate frame design or the 50 screws you had to remove to get to the boards. Or the print system that only understood 10baseT and wouldn't work over a 10/100 hub...

OMG... the top and bottom were connected by a cable with no external connector so to bring it into an office for a demo required the removal of the top and back of the printer part and the connection of about 10 connectors onto 3 or 4 different boards. If all went well it took about a half hour to setup with the customer thinking it was broken because why else would you take it apart so much just to plug it in.

[edzo666]

i remember the ricoh ft 5733 that hold a color development unit.

[KenB]

One more fax flub up:

I think it was the Aficio 270 that first offered a form of MFP faxing for Ricoh.

It required a PC on the network to have Winfax Pro (I think it was the only supported application) and a fax modem. The 270 would then connect to that PC to fax out.

Actually, not a terrible idea, but the salesman would always conveniently forget that minor little requirement.