Comment Re:Well, if you're going to push... (Score 2) 159
Just remember, your own experience is anecdotal. When I was in school 'Xeroxing' was used more often than 'copying' by the government worker types I was exposed to.
Darn near everything today is 'copied' using a form of laser printer technology, but back when I was a kid 'photocopies' were xerox machines, but you also had 'ditto' machines that the schools would use when they needed 60+ copies of something - it'd produce slightly funny looking blue ink copies that were normally not quite centered/straight on the paper. From what I remember, it used photographic technology to make a sort of screen, which would then be mounted on a drum that rotated the paper through. More expensive by far than a Xerox for a single copy, but it gave you a negative good for hundreds of prints, after which the only cost was the paper and ink that was probably a couple bucks per gallon. It was called a 'ditto machine', which wiki also calls a 'spirit duplicator'.
In short, back then a 'copy machine' back then could refer to any of a number of devices depending on your needs - a photocopier/Xerox for a copy or two. A ditto machine for a moderate number of low quality copies(like giving kids a test), a mimeograph for larger numbers of copies, all the way up to full up printing presses for stuff like government forms.