Consider the lowly copier. So central to all that we do and yet it is the object of such derision. Few would quibble that it has grown to become a sophisticated machine, but, it seems, short of putting a jinni inside, the copier doesn't live up to many office workers' expectations. And for at least a few of our more libidinous officemates, it may never hit the mark.

Lanier Worldwide, a maker of copiers, scanners, and the like, hired a market-intelligence firm to find out what buyers want in a future copier, and the results are a little surprising.

The survey, conducted this month by Crescendo Partners, indicates that most people want copiers to move faster, be cheaper to operate, and give better images. No surprise there. They also want error messages that don't require the Rosetta stone to decipher. Anyone who's ever hesitated to use a copier because the person sitting closest to it (and therefore was the de facto expert on the thing) was away could tell you that.

But more than one response among the 401 collected by Crescendo indicated that the better copier will have a better-looking repair person. No further details were collected on this response. Maybe the low-rider fashion sensation doesn't translate to the office-equipment-repair set. Be that as it may, here are the actual findings, compliments of Lanier.