The Canon imageRUNNER 1133/iR 1133 MFP/Photocopiers Series

In a broad swathe of recent product launches, Canon, a world leader in business imaging solutions has announced the release of the imageRUNNER 1133 photocopier/MFP series. The new Canon imageRUNNER 1133 offers a compact footprint, 33 ppm black and white productivity and a range of great features, providing fantastic ease-of-use and connectivity as well as a high level of security and cost control.

The iR 1133 MFP/Photocopier - Key Features:

- 33 ppm monochrome productivity

- User-friendly 5-line LCD display

- Outstanding energy efficiency

- High 1050 sheet paper capacity (with an optional additional 500 sheet capacity cassette)

- Embedded uniFLOW client capability and E-RDS eMaintenance compatibility

- Print from and scan to USB

- Lower initial purchase price than iR1000 series.

The iR 1133 Monochrome MFP - High Productivity, Great Ease of Use and Enhanced Functionality

Even with its relatively small footprint, the new iR 1133 is able to provide relaible 33 ppm printing and produce first copies within 8 seconds.

Nor do the iR 1133's compact proportions compromise its ease-of-use. The new 1100 series photocopiers provide a clear 5-line backlit LCD display for clarity and speed of operation.

Unlike other rival devices in its category, the iR 1133 MFP can scan documents in colour via its document feeder an send them directly to folders or email addresses.

As an embedded uniFLOW client device, the iR 1133 photocopiers also offer 'My Print Anywhere' which gives users on a uniFLOW network access to the iR 1133 or whichever other device is most convenient.

For ultimate simplicity, the iR 1133 MFP allows TIFF files and JPEGs to be printed from or scanned to a USB memory stick.

The iR 1133 Monochrome MFP - Robust Security and Cost Control

Secure Print as standard on all imageRUNNER 1133 photocopiers provides a high level of built-in security. Print jobs are effectively 'held' until a user identifies themselves using a PIN number. This means that jobs will only ever be released in the presence of the intended recipient, greatly reducing the possibility of them ending up in the wrong hands. As well as the security benefits, Secure Print also reduces paper waste, as jobs that have been ordered and 'held' but not picked-up, will not be printed. With the iR1133 models, up to 5 documents can be held on the device itself.. Canon's uniFLOW workflow solution which the iR1133 MFP is embedded with (as a client device) gives users the option of smart card authentication for an added layer of security.

uniFLOW compatibility again means these iR1133 photocopiers can be part of a much more transparent system when it comes to costs. Administrators are able to track a user's print jobs even change to them or the projects/departments to which they belong.

Canon's eMaintenance tool offers remote diagnostic capabilities, automated meter readings and consumables monitoring to ensure only serious malfunctions could be a cause for device downtime.

The iR 1133 Monochrome MFP - Seamless Integration and a Very Clean Bill of Environmental Health

The new imageRUNNER 1133 photocopiers have been designed for seamless integration into existing IT network environments and all devices come with the option of PCL and Post Script support. As mentioned before, as these new devices are embedded with uniFLOW compatibility, they can operate alongside other devices in whichever the optimum workflow configuration. Once the imageRUNNER 1133 is connected to the network, Canon's iW Management Console (iWMC) enables administrators to manage and monitor an entire fleet from one single point of control.

As well as qualifying for the EPA's Energy Star scheme, the iR1133 offers class leading Total Energy Consumption (TEC) ratings and consumes as little as 3 watts in sleep mode. Highly productive duplex printing also helps cut down on energy use as well as the obvious savings on paper.

On the launch of the new imageRUNNER iR 1133 MFPs, Trevor Dodsworth, Head of Product Marketing for the Canon Business imaging Group, UK commented,

"The A4 black-and-white MFD market grew 15 per cent during Q1 2011[2] compared to the same period last year, and as such we've seen increasing demand from our customers for both A4 black-and-white and colour devices. We're not only expanding our portfolio offering but providing new and enhanced features to benefit businesses of all sizes, from home offices through to organisations looking for an integrated print fleet where new devices work seamlessly with existing hardware."

There are three imageRUNNER 1100 series devices being launched - the standard iR 1133, the iR 1133A with DADF and the iR 1133iF providing DADF, SEND and PCL as standard. The imageRUNNER 1100 series is now on sale and devices will be shipping from the 4-10th October. For further information, contact Canon Copiers or any leading Canon Business Solutions Partner.

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The Photocopier that Helped Topple a President

Amid the recent clamour around the WikiLeaks US Defense Department leaks, the figure of Daniel Ellsberg has re-emerged to greet our screens on various topical news programmes and fill column inches in national newspapers in the US and worldwide. To some, Ellsberg is now a US national hero, to others he will always be seen as one of the most serious threats to US national security in the country's modern history, Henry Kissenger at one time branding him "the most dangerious man in America." It was Daniel Ellsberg who was responsible for what has been described as "the most famous military leak in US history" when in June 1971 he passed on 7000 pages of "Top Secret", "Sensitive" material, concerning America's conduct in the Vietnam War to the New York Times and several other newspapers. The documents which became known as the "Pentagon Papers" revealed that the American public had been continually misled over Vietnam and the firestorm which ensued led to the first ever presidential resignation, when Nixon bowed-out ignimoniously in 1974. But many have put forward the contention that it was in fact the photocopier that was the real hero of this most dramatic episode in American history. It was one of the RAND Corporation's photocopiers afterall which allowed Ellsberg to pass on government files without alerting the immediate attention of colleagues. Here we examine the significance of the Pentagon Papers and how it was a humble photocopier which in fact effectively blew the lid on Vietnam and helped topple the President of the USA.

Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg grew up in Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from Harvard with an Honours Degree in Economics he studied for a year at Cambridge in the UK on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. From 1954-7, Daniel Ellsberg served in the US Marine Corps as a Rifle Platoon Leader, an Operations Officer and a Rifle Comapny Commander. Ellsberg returned to Harvard in 1957 where he became a Junior Fellow. He earned a PhD in Economics in 1962 with his thesis on Risk, Ambiguity and Decision.

On the strength of his academic record, Ellsberg was recruited as a strategic analyst at the RAND Corporation and acted as a consultant to the Defense Department and the White House, advising on the problems of command and control of nuclear weapons, nuclear war plans and crisis decision-making.

It was in 1964 that Ellsberg joined the US Defense Deaprtment as Special Assistant Secretary of Defense John McNaughton working on the escalation of the US miltary incvolvement in Vietnam. In 1965, Ellsberg was transferred to the US Embassy in Saigon, assessing the situation in the field.

Ellsberg became significantly more enlightened about US policy in Vietnam when having returned to the RAND Corporation in 1967 he started work on a Top Secret and landmark study under Robert McNamara into US foreign policy decision making in Vietnam between 1945-68, which later came to be known as the Pentagon Papers.

The Most Infamous Leak in History

It was in working on this epic assignment that Ellsberg, already disillusioned at the Vietnam War's progress from his secondment to Saigon, began to realise the full scale of the US folly. He could see from the documents that four US presidents had misled and lied to the Americam public about the Vietnam War and that its continual excalation was an anxiety-driven, unjust and completely unnecessary campaign. In Ellsberg's words,

"It was a crime from the start carried oout by 4 presidents as revealed in the study. And now a fifth president was doing the same, with no end in sight."

It was in 1969 when Ellsberg began to photocopy the documents, of which there were only fifteen original copies, marked "Top Secret - Sensitive". He would take a few hundred pages of the dossier at a time to the photocopier at the RAND Corporation and stay up all night. In those days photocopiers were not the fastest. As Judith Ehrlich, a film-maker who has made a documentary about Ellsberg's exploits remarks,

"It was 1969 when he started photcopying and I remember what it was like making a copy in 1969 - it was a very tedious process."

As Ellsberg himself comments,

"It took a long time, one page at a time, so I'm quite jealous of the current capabilities...I used the most advanced technology I could - Xerox - and I couldn't have done what I did ten years earlier."

Initialy, Ellsberg's instinct had not been to disseminate the papers to a newspaper in fact. He had first requested that the papers be declassified and had asked various members of Congress to release them.

Finally Ellsberg approached Vietnam expert Neil Sheehan at the New York Times. A few months passed with Ellsberg uncertain about the fate of the papers and finally in June 1971 the first excerpts appeared in the New York Times. Two days later the New York Times was injuncted. The documents were sent onto the Washington Post. Again, the paper was injuncted. In the end 13 other papers ran excerpts.

Nixon and the Fallout from the Photocopied Pentagon Papers

It was Kissenger, as noted at the start of this article, who described Ellsberg after the leak as "the most dangerous man in America". The incident had the Nixon administration, one of the most paranoid in US history, absolutely fuming. Nixon's personal phone records reveal the extent of the President's anger,

"I just say we've got to keep our eye on the main ball. The main ball is Ellsberg. We've got to get this son of a bitch."

In late June 1971, Ellsberg was arrested for violating the Federal Espionage Act. In 1973 though, the prosecution collapsed as a result of several procedural abuses. Nixon had secretly raided the offices of Ellsberg's psychiatrist, his team had illegally tapped Ellberg's phone as well as those of several other witnesses and he had attempted to bribe William Byrne, the judge in this case.

David Rudenstein, the US legal historian, has opined that the machinations against Ellsberg in the aftermath of the Pentagon Papers leak had helped to form two of the impeachment charges against Nixon which would lead to his eventual resignation in 1974. Many Pentagon insiders certainly thought that the Pnetagon Papers incident was the first step on the road to Watergate. As Nixon's paranoia became increasingly florid after the Ellsberg leak, the same "plumbers unit" which had broken into his pschiatrist's office would be deployed to take possession of whatever classified documents were suspected by Nixon of being held by "liberals" at the Brookings Institution. Even though the plans to mount an arson attack were eventually put to one side, the gradual slide of the administration into lawlessness would lead to that infamous abortive raid on the Democratic Party headquarters in 1972 and the impeachment and resignation in 1974.

As Ellsberg himself remarked, the release of the Pentagon Papers to the American press in 1971, up until WikiLeaks, the single biggest unauthorised release of classified official documents in history, would not even have been possible ten years earlier. The advances in reprographic technology, resulting in more widely available, realiable, fully automated photocopiers in the late 1960's, enabled Ellsberg, albeit painstakingly slowly, to copy the 7000 or so documents of the McNamara report and pass them on to the new York Times. That action, to many one of the bravest deceptions of a government official in US history, galvinised the anti-war movement and contributed to the toppling of Nixon, a true despot of US politics. As the commentator James Reston would write of the case, "The real source of the leaks is Chester Carlson [the inventor of photocopiers]."

Falcon is a leading Canon photocopiers supplier in the UK, offering some of the most competitive photocopier leasing packages and document management solutions.

About the Author

Jeremy Samson is an imaging technology expert writing extensively on the latest developments in the document managment industry.

Photocopiers and MFP's - What's the Difference?

The simple answer is that to many people today the terms 'photocopier' and 'MFP' have become inter-changeable. But the equation in terminology, while a useful short-hand, particularly from the technologically unaware user's point of view, masks a world of difference in technology and functionality. Over the past decade or so, the MFP has really been at the leading-edge of reprographics developments, the bearer of the latest innovations and the most significant technological advancements. While many today continue to regard photocopiers and MFP's as one and the same thing, there should be no confusion that the technology involved has come a very long way, to the extent that very few devices today would offer solely conventional photocopying functionality alone. MFP's have been quietly redefining what is possible through what was once a fairly cumbersome, single-function device. Here, we'll explore just how much photocopiers have evolved over the years and what today's organisations can expect from when buying or leasing a photocopier/MFP.

The MFP - From Conventional Analogue Photocopier to Digital Multifunctional Device

When photocopiers bagan to be more widely available during the 1960's, they were huge trundling leviathans of machines, with just the one single function - photocopying. They were often slow, would usually only handle very limited media sizes and weights and would struggle with any larger workloads.

Canon was the first photocopiers manufacturer to introduce electrostatic colour photocopiers, launching the first mass-produced colour model in 1973. The 1970's and 80's saw gradual improvements in the productivity and well as the reprographic quality of photocopiers and accompanying reductions in the actual size of devices themselves. But it was really in the mid to late ninetees that photocopiers technology really began to take-off. As the world was finding its feet with PC's and the internet, personal computer technology was beginning to filter through to photocopiers, so that more advanced user interfaces and operating systems could give photocopiers users access to a greater range of photocopying and printing options. For the first time, photocopiers could be networked to users' workstations, so that as well as photocopying at the device itself, users could send print jobs to the print servers or to the devices themselves, effectively doubling the photocopier's functionality. Attending these developments were improvements to media handling, so that devices could accomodate various paper weights and a variety of paper sizes. And at the close of the last millenium photocopiers also began to include an extended range of finsihing options so that the conventional copier could not only print as well as copy but could print a variety of documents, providing stapling, hole-punching and various kinds of folding finishing options. Scanning also came to be a more regular feature on photcoopiers, initially just black and white or monochrome but increasingly, colour scanning has become prevalent among many more high-end devices.

MFP's and Photocopiers Today

In the last decade, the rate of technological change in photocopier/MFP technology has been astonishing. With more sophisticated on-board embedded platforms, users have been given a much greater level of control over device output and have been empowered to create dynamic document workflows between users and devices. With the greater levels of integration between photocopiers and back-end systems, using PDL's and   ">MEAP connectors for example, and integration with commomly-used desktop software, using WYSIWYG print publishing and previews for example, photocopers and MFP's have effectively broken-down the boundaries between desktop and printer, so for example, documents may be previewed on devices before they progress further down the document workflow. What is known as Universal Send provides limitless possibilities for documents once they have been scanned in. It's now possible to scan directly to an   ">FTP site, to SMB or to users' email accounts. Canon's CloudConnect feature connects Canon MFP's with leading cloud-based services, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Sharepoint, so that documents may be printed off at an MFP/photocopier from a mobile device and conversely scanned in at an MFP/photocopier to a mobile device, a technology which further expands the parameters of document workflows.

But a major difference between a modern day photocopier/MFP and predecessors 15/20 years ago is energy consumption. Th latest Canon imageRUNNER Advance photocopiers today consume up to 65% less energy than their equivalents only 10/15 years ago. Very few modern devices will not have had to met some energy consumption standards, be that TEC energy consumption, Energy Star accreditation or RoHS and some photocopiers, again taking Canon's imageRUNNER Advance series as an example, are made using recylcled materials and bio platics, to save on energy consumption and CO2 emissions during manufacturer. So even though photocopiers today do so much more by way of performance, they typically cost much less to run, especially now that service access is given increasing consideration in photocopiers design.

To refer to a modern-day multifunction printer (MFP) as a photocopier is entirely acceptable. It is afterall from the photocopier which the MFP originates and for many, though certainly not all, the primary function of an MFP remains photocopying. However, if anyone thought for a second that what they understood to be a photocopier 10/15/20 years ago bears really anything but a notional resemblance with photocopiers/MFP's today they'd be much mistaken. Photocopiers or MFP's, as they're more often known within the industry today, provide a huge wealth of features and functionality, so that for many companies today they have effectively become an organsiational hub for all their document management needs. Providing for a multitude of document output requirements and offering scanning, printing, faxing and i-send functionality, today's MFP/photocopier can make the conventional photocopier look veritably antique.

Falcon is one of the UK's leading Canon photocopiers suppliers and a leader in document management solutions. For further information about photocopier leasing, the latest Canon photocopiers or for any other enquiries, please contact Falcon.

About the Author

Jeremy Samson is an imaging technology expert writing extensively on the latest developments in the document managment industry.

Photocopier Leasing

Earlier this year Falcon reported on the record levels of customers choosing photocopier leasing as opposed to outright purchase of devices. Falcon could reveal that since 2008 and the dawn of the present recession, there had been a steady growth in photocopier leasing levels, starting from an almost even spread in 2007/2008 to 60% photocopier leasing in 2009 and an astonishing 70% plus by the start of 2011. Well, more-or-less half way through 2011 and Falcon can reveal another rather staggering increase in leasing levels - by June this year they'd reached an all time high of 82%. Now more than ever, it seems, customers are realising the many benefits which photocopier leasing can bring. For many, the structure of photocopier leases has changed significantly since they last considered the option, so that entering a photocopier leasing agreement today is much simpler and the costs associated much lower. For others, the relatively short term financial commitment of photocopier leasing has become very much more attractive in the more straightened economic times we're experiencing. Here we explore how photocopier leasing levels have shot up so dramatically in the past few years and what seems to be driving the change in customer preference.

A Consistent Increase in Photocopier Leasing Levels

Since the UK entered the present economic downturn in 2008, there has been a consistent growth in the number of organisations choosing to lease photocopiers rather than buy. 2009 saw photocopier leasing levels increase to over 60%, from an almost even split between leasing and purchase in 2008. Falcon had reported at the time of the news that as well as the natural tendency towards leasing as a consequence of the uncertain economic times, photocopier leasing companies had been doing much more to make themselves more attractive to potential customers. Since then, as the economic fortunes of the country haven't improved and photocopier leasing companies have been working hard to promote leasing as the most cost-effective solution, the proportion of customers choosing to lease photocopiers has increased further still. At the time of the last leasing figures in January, Falcon could reveal that up to 75% of new business came from photocopier leasing customers. Now, half way through 2011 and that previous record high for leasing has been smashed. The average perecentage of customers leasing photocopiers in the first five months of 2011 was an astonishing 82%.

What is Driving the Increase in Photocopier Leasing?

The major advantage of leasing a photocopier as opposed to purchasing outright is avoiding the significant financial outlay which buying any modern device will usually entail. While small/medium-sized Canon photocopiers for instance are now the best value they have ever been, the imageRUNNER Advance C2020L Canon photocopiers for instance costing around £2000, for many businesses that's still not something they can afford, especially in the uncertain economic times we're experiencing at the moment. Photocopier leasing allows customers to pay for any devices, including all the latest Canon photocopiers, at manageable monthly amounts and only for the time they require. As has been noted, photocopier leasing companies have been going the extra mile to encourage organisations not to hang-on to ineffective reprographics systems or hold-off from buying new devices out of fear of costs. Unlike the earlier days of photocopier leasing, with much greater competetion among photocopier leasing companies, they now typically make much lower margins and are also far more flexible about minimum monthly leasing terms. For this reason, not only do photocopier leasing customers benefit from low monthly costs but they're also able to limit their financial commitment over time.

With many businesses currently operating very close to their bottom-line, staff time is also more valuable than ever. For many, the fact that photocopier leasing comapnies now offer all-inclusive packages covering all toner, parts maintenance as well as all servicing and installation, really takes the stress out of owning a photocopier, where often a non-technical member of staff would find themselves saddled with the task of topping up the toner or attempting to resolve technical issues. Together with the more flexible leasing terms, lower costs and all-inclusive packages, photocopier leasing companies are also working closely with potential customers to maximise the chances of securing lease financing. In a climate in which banks are increasingly unlikely to lend to businesses, photocopier leasing companies are effectively bucking the trend in providing finance for the vast majority of their customers.

But a major reason why many organisations are opting for photocopier leasing rather than outright purchase is to keep up with the latest developments in technology. As more and more innovations are built into the latest photocopiers, Canon photocopiers for instance now connecting directly with 'cloud' services such as Google Docs, leasing allows businesses to regularly renew equipment, as technological developments occur. With typically shorter leasing terms, businesses don't have to wait very long to replace devices and take advantage of the latest equipment, meaning they're always able to enjoy the best productivity and efficiency savings possible.

The ongoing recession means there's very little optimism in the economy at the moment, with many businesses remaining uncertain about their prosepcts for the future. With banks reluctant to lend in such precarious times, it has become difficult for many small and medium-sized businesses to secure funding for their larger outlays. Leasing photocopiers has thus become a much more attractive option. Not only do regular monthly payments over a fixed, agreed term make financial planning much simpler, but the greater flexibility, the ability to keep up with advancements in technology and that great efforts that photocopier leasing companies have made to reduce costs and also to help customers secure lease finance, now mean that for many orgnaisations, photocopier leasing has become the preferred option.

Falcon is a leading supplier of Canon photocopiers and document management solutions. All the latest Canon photocopiers and MFPs, including the award-winning imageRUNNER and Canon imageRUNNER Advance ranges are available from Falcon, either to purchase or lease.

About the Author

Jeremy Samson is an imaging technology expert writing extensively on the latest developments in the document managment industry.