The Great Debate: RDF v RDH
Same machine; correspondence raged
THE GREAT DEBATE
Our centrepiece ruled the feeder doctrine not open for correspondence. It arrived within the week — one syllable of daylight, both sides claiming Kodak. Two letters, then the ruling.
The Case for Feeder
Sir, — There is no debate. Kodak built it — Ektaprint 100, 1975 — named it the recirculating document feeder, and licensed it to IBM, Xerox and Canon, whose RDF-F1 takes a hundred originals and inverts the two-sided ones unsupervised. The inventor names the invention. “Handler” is what a nervous man calls a feeder when he means to charge more for it.
— A FEEDER MAN, PARRAMATTA
The Case for Handler
Sir, — Your correspondent feeds; the trade handles. Sharp’s SD-2075 of 1991 carries a recirculating document handler — air-feed transport, no less. Xerox, a Kodak licensee, said “document handler” on the 1090’s semi- and fully-automatic units, and says DADF on the Document Centre today. One feeds pigs, sir; originals are handled, and handed back in order. A precision instrument is not a trough.
— A HANDLER MAN, CHATSWOOD
The ruling
This publication says RDF, and stands with Kodak’s original naming: 1975 outranks 1991, and the inventor christens the invention. Both camps cite the same patrimony and own the same machine; the whole disagreement is one syllable wide. The thing itself deserves the last word: the feeder is the machine’s opinion of your time, and it thinks you have better ones. This correspondence is closed, and will therefore run for years.
THE DEBATE — SCORED
Nobody had to change anything, so nobody ever stopped. Kodak settled it in 1975.
Who Called It What
| Brand | The name | Sighted on |
|---|---|---|
| Kodak | Recirculating document feeder (RDF) | Ektaprint 100, 1975 — the original; licensed to IBM, Xerox, Canon |
| Canon | RDF — loyal to the F | RDF-F1 (100 originals); RDF-C1 on the NP-6030 |
| Xerox | “Document handler”; later DADF | 1090 semi/full auto DH; Document Centre DADF |
| Sharp | RDH — the handler tendency | SD-2075 (1991) and the SD line throughout |
| IBM | badge unverified | licence on record; kept its counsel |