Thursday, June 08, 2006
The Facts about the Fax
I called the phone company today and asked them to cancel my fax phone number. I did it with a heavy heart, and since I've had the number for about six years, I felt like I was sneaking behind a friend and, without warning, clubbing him over the head. But it had to be done. I was spending about $15 a month for that number, and I probably now use the fax machine about three times a year. And the only people who fax me are companies trying to sell me something like a trip to the Bahamas and printing ink for--what else?--fax machines.
$15 a month doesn't sound like a much, but it adds up to $180 a year.
While I'm sure that large corporations will have fax machines for some time--after all, if you have 100 employees or more, your staff is bound to be using the fax machine quite frequently--I'm kind of guessing that a lot of smaller businesses are quietly doing away with their machines. After all, you can fax over the Internet--and have been able to for years now--and so much business is done over email and the phone, I'm guessing that I'm not the only one who has found my fax machine almost useless.
But the fax, interestingly enough, will live on. It's just got to. In some form or another, it's been around since 1843. Seriously, I read up on this, and it turns out a man named Alexander Bain invited a technology that transmitted images across wires--using the technology of the telegraph--although the first fax machine didn't come around until the 1860s. The fax machine we're all used to, though, came on the scene in Japan in the 1970s and spread to the rest of the world by the 1980s. So I'm confident that the fax machine will live on, in a way, though I'm sure the scanner and email will eventually make the need for the actual machines and phone numbers obsolete. That's my prediction, which I realize isn't going out on much of a limb. It's like my predicting that the year 2007 will follow 2006.
Anyway, my fax phone number is gone. Farewell old friend. I shall miss ye, and I will gaze upon my now-useless fax machine and put it in a prominent spot in my office and think about the march of progress and the good times we once had.
Or maybe I'll just sell it on eBay.
$15 a month doesn't sound like a much, but it adds up to $180 a year.
While I'm sure that large corporations will have fax machines for some time--after all, if you have 100 employees or more, your staff is bound to be using the fax machine quite frequently--I'm kind of guessing that a lot of smaller businesses are quietly doing away with their machines. After all, you can fax over the Internet--and have been able to for years now--and so much business is done over email and the phone, I'm guessing that I'm not the only one who has found my fax machine almost useless.
But the fax, interestingly enough, will live on. It's just got to. In some form or another, it's been around since 1843. Seriously, I read up on this, and it turns out a man named Alexander Bain invited a technology that transmitted images across wires--using the technology of the telegraph--although the first fax machine didn't come around until the 1860s. The fax machine we're all used to, though, came on the scene in Japan in the 1970s and spread to the rest of the world by the 1980s. So I'm confident that the fax machine will live on, in a way, though I'm sure the scanner and email will eventually make the need for the actual machines and phone numbers obsolete. That's my prediction, which I realize isn't going out on much of a limb. It's like my predicting that the year 2007 will follow 2006.
Anyway, my fax phone number is gone. Farewell old friend. I shall miss ye, and I will gaze upon my now-useless fax machine and put it in a prominent spot in my office and think about the march of progress and the good times we once had.
Or maybe I'll just sell it on eBay.
# posted by Geoff Williams : 11:13 PM
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We here at Amish Telecom would like to recommend our low-cost wood-burning fax machine. Just put your message into the machine, set the machine on fire and use a wet blanket (or wet diaper) to send your message by smoke signal.
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# posted by 
: 3:03 PM
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