The photocopier allows for quick and cheap reproduction of documents and visual material and is widely used in governmental and educational institutions as well as in businesses. As such it is quintessential to the principles of ease and efficiency characterising the post-modern workplace. Operating the machine can however imply monotonous work reminiscent of the industrial age and is often done by interns and secretaries in spaces that isolate its sound and fumes from the rest of the workplace, manifesting a division of labour thought to have been abolished by the electronic age. In public places access to photocopiers tends to be limited by a code to prevent excessive use.