The Fax Machine Stays Alive

from the can't-get-rid-of-it-that-easily dept

It's been nearly a year and a half since we last checked in on the world of fax machines and found that, despite this whole digital internet paperless revolution thing, the fax machine refused to die. It turns out, a year and a half later, not much has changed. The fax machine is still a necessary piece of equipment for many businesses, and shows no signs of going away any time soon. In fact, some are saying that fax machine sales are actually going up these days. Of course, some of us still can't figure out what it's good for, other than documents where a signature is needed -- though, it's also being used in places where people don't want to give out their email addresses, but prefer the less personable fax machine as a way to ward off constant contact.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    gaw, 28 Mar 2005 @ 1:45am

    Ancient Technology

    You'd probably be surprised to find that some businesses still use (**gasp**) COPIERS to MAKE COPIES instead of the new fangled scan/digitize/print thingy. And did you know that some companies still purchase CALCULATORS to CALCULATE with? Why, some companies even employ the ancient, non-digital PEN to WRITE WORDS with.
    The business of business is conducting business, and it uses the best available tool to efficiently and effectively conduct that business. Making a process digital does not neccessarily entail it becoming better or more efficient.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike (profile), 28 Mar 2005 @ 2:11am

      Re: Ancient Technology

      Wasn't trying to imply that the fax machine deserved to die. Just pointing out that it's still around -- while many expected it to die.

      I'm completely with you on the other things. I have a copier and I have a calculator on my desk that I still use. And I have a fax machine.

      It just seems that many of these technologies were supposed to make the fax machine obsolete. And they haven't.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        gaw, 28 Mar 2005 @ 2:43am

        Re: Ancient Technology

        My bad... actually it was the Taipei folks that were bemoaning the "ancient technology" that just wouldn't die.

        I just mentioned in a post that the reason fax machines refuse to die is that they are still the most efficient method of reliably getting a hard copy document from point A to B, and this is a process where reliabilty is critical. From the looks of this fax machine, apparently the us army agrees.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 28 Mar 2005 @ 7:01am

      Re: Ancient Technology

      See, the first step is to fire the old hag secretary who doesn't want to use "that new-fangled contraption", then...oh look...suddenly you're joining EFFICIENT businesses and doing work faster, keeping in contact with clients in realtime if need be, and have portable digital backups of ALL correspondence/info if you want, etc...

      But, I guess you can go back to bringing your productivity to a standstill if you want by hunting for batteries for your old calculator, or beads for your abacus, or whatever...


      "The business of business is conducting business"
      ...and a degree in philosophy lets you...teach philosophy...

      This train of thought is why useless MBAs are still working...They've turned the production of goods/services into paper-pushing and filling out forms, so OBVIOUSLY the idea of a paperless office(no fax machines,etc) scares the beejeezus out of them. Their inefficient running-in-circles-looking-busy would be laid bare...and they'd be laid off...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Beck, 28 Mar 2005 @ 6:33am

    Chicken / Egg

    Who bought the first fax machine?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Daranthalis, 28 Mar 2005 @ 6:44am

      Re: Chicken / Egg

      "Who bought the first fax machine?"

      The same person who bought the first telephone.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Oliver Wendell Jones, 28 Mar 2005 @ 7:09am

        Re: Chicken / Egg

        Actually, if you do your research, the 'fax machine' was invented *before* the telephone.

        It wasn't really a fax machine as we know it, but a system was developed that involved a pendulum swinging back and forth over an image created with electrically conductive ink that would send a signal over a telegraph line and produce a similar image on the far end.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    VonSkippy, 28 Mar 2005 @ 11:30am

    People are afraid of change

    I stopped using a fax machine in 1999. When people ask me for my fax number, I chuckle, and ask what decade they're living in. To date, I haven't lost one client. Most businesses are too afraid that they will piss off one of their precious ludite customers to embrace new technology which is quicker, better, and way way cheaper (no 2nd phone line, no long distance, no fax paper costs, etc.).

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      gaw, 5 Apr 2005 @ 6:24pm

      Re: People are afraid of change

      So, the US Army is afraid to embrace quicker, better, more efficient technology? Or could it be that the US Army realizes the importance of a reliable communications platform? I believe the term "mission critical" applies.
      My business produces over two hundred pounds of contracts each year. Each of those contracts is worth several thousand dollars to me. I have to be able to be prepared to produce those records in a manner that a court of law would be willing to accept as evidence. Sure, there are paperless ways to accomplish this. There are also power surges, hard drive failures, operator errors and countless other means by which all or some of that data could be lost or corrupted. If embracing the reliability of paper makes me a ludite, so be it. At least I am not dependent on the latest microsoft service pack to keep my records secure.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.