A Voice from the Silent Majority

Opening up a little shop with a few photocopy machines near an educational institute preferably a government campus paves the way to fast riches. There are no seasonal variances in sales since the academic calendar of different batches or departments are not uniform. Therefore when one department/batch is on vacation others may be having exams. (The examination eve brings students pouring to these little shops to make sure they have all the notes, past papers, some students in their desperation photocopy whole books at that last moment. Only god knows whether they can go through all those notes. But nevertheless it's a peace of mind atleast to have all the notes with you even though you don't go through most of them.)

So within an year the little shop which started with a several photocopy machines in a dark dirty space, has many computers, broadband services and air conditioning, with several personnel to run the machines. Such is the opportunity for expansion in the market. (Recently one shop relocated to a bigger place to facilitate the growing number of customers, and one of friends known as the king was invited to the opening as he is a very frequent visitor.)

When in school I rarely had the need to photocopy notes. Bulk of what was said in the class was comprehendible and notes were made with a general understanding. Since the period was only 40mins even if we didn't understand anything it was still bearable. Also cutting classes had to be done with care since getting caught by a teacher or a prefect could land you in trouble, therefore cutting the class was kind of a last resort thing.

With the entrance in to uni this whole system changed. Here I met a set of people called lecturers of who most had the incredible ability to bore your pants off. (I am referring to most here as there are a few very good lecturers). Some have the extra capability to teach something so that you won't understand a thing. The two hour lecture periods did nothing to help as well. Therefore even if I'm in class most of the time my note has no academic value. (Some of my friends take this time in the lecture hall to catch up on the countless hours of sleep they have missed.)

There are also others who feel that there calling is elsewhere than in the lecture room (I also feel this at times). This where the so-called great freedom at the university becomes a blessing. If you don't want to stay in class then there is nothing stopping you from leaving. A mix of boredom, dissatisfaction, depression motivates others to not to attend lectures. (In my department there is one guy who doesn't have time to come as he is always busy attending funerals)

But unfortunately we all need the notes sooner or later to sit for the exam. That is when all hell breaks lose. Sometimes it's really hard to find a complete set of notes as we find out that none have attended lectures or because even the few who went have no clue as to the subject matter. So you end up photocopying what ever you can find. Most of the time photocopies of photocopies are made. (I once had to photocopy from a photocopy of my own notes as I friend lost my book which I gave for him to photocopy.)

By now with experience most photocopy shop owners know what kind of notes have the highest demand. So they themselves make an extra copy of a note or a book which arrives at their shop frequently and put up a poster about it. (Man these guy know their customers, these are the homegrown marketing gurus)

Wow it really scares me to think that photocopier very nearly didn't make it to the market, as the inventor of the photocopier Chester Carlson was turned down by over 20 companies, including IBM and General Electric neither of which believed there was a significant market for copiers. What ever would have happened to us he gave up then.