Using that logic, what's the difference between a police helicopter and camera's mounted inside and outside your home? You need to read 1984. Seriously, because that is where your thinking is leading us.
My scanner is a flat bed. When scanning prints, I would put as many as I could fit on it at a time then "cut" the resulting scan latter using PS, but that part was simply using the crop feature which even the most rudimentary photo software will...
Are you scanning prints, slides or negatives? For prints, a good scanner works OK. Remember though that unless extraordinary care was taken with the originals, the flaws in the picture that have taken place since first printed, such as dust...