Fax machines were popular in the 80’s and 90’s, when the internet was not widespread. At a time when the internet is now in every home in daily life, you will probably be very surprised when someone asks you to fax and you will not be able to receive your fax instantly because you do not have a fax machine at hand. Fax, which is an old technology from the Internet and has lost its popularity today, sounds a bit outdated, doesn’t it?
Why fax machines are preferred despite the widespread use of the Internet. Have you thought about this subject? Let’s talk about why fax is still preferred.
To understand fax machines, let’s take a brief look at their history.
The first identifiable fax, considered the telephone fax, was invented in the 1964’s by a company called Xerox; however, there was another technology underlying this technology. This technology belonged to Alexander Baine, who invented the electric printing telegraph in 1843. Baine had introduced a technology that allows simulating a 2D image on paper. In addition to Baine, many different attempts were made to develop electric printing technology.
Alexander Bain received the first patent for the fax in 1843. The facsimile most similar to today’s facsimile emerged in 1924 as a result of Richard H. Ranger’s research. Thanks to this fax, a photo transfer was made between New York and London on 24 November 1924.
How did fax machines become common in daily life?
Americans learned of the fax machine when it was introduced at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. It took more than ten years for the use of fax to become widespread and spread throughout the world. The fact that fax caused an increase in speed in commercial transactions and provided the opportunity to send important documents quickly from company to company played a big role in its spread in the business world in a short time. Thanks to these opportunities, faxes have gained a solid place in public institutions and the private sector.
Although fax technology had so many possibilities, it could not maintain its popularity very much. When the 1995s entered, the demand for fax machines gradually decreased and when we came to today, it started to leave its place to internet-based communication tools.
But why are fax machines still used today?
Fax devices have been among the pioneers of communication tools since they started to be used. Surprisingly, fax machines are still one of the communication tools used by many institutions on a daily basis. The number of institutions using fax is more than you think. Today, there are many well-known companies in the public institutions, banking sector, health sector and private sector at the beginning of the places that use fax.
After understanding the fax machine, let’s come to the answer to our question: Why are fax machines still used?
The message sent by fax can be considered as a legally valid message, provided that it has been confirmed and has passed some procedures. This is why many organizations prefer sending documents via fax messages to sending documents via e-mail messages. If some faxes did not have a legally valid message feature, the documents that should be sent legally would either be hand-delivered or transmitted with other alternatives offered by technology.
They are a little more secure than other means of communication.
Traditional fax machines use telephone lines as infrastructure, not any digital network that could allow hackers to access messages. Therefore, the fax messages sent are a little more difficult to read and intercept by third parties.
The fact that traditional fax machines provide more secure facilities makes them preferred by institutions that attach importance to security.
Fax is also preferred because of the old companies.
As in our country, there are many companies in the world that have their roots in ancient times and that acquired this technology in the first years of faxing. These companies still prefer to use fax for communication purposes. Among the reasons for this lies either security measures or not preferring other tools because it will be difficult to transition to a new technology. After all, old habits are not easy to let go, right?
What do you think about fax technology? When was the last time you sent a fax message?
Sources: HP, Science ABC, Make Use Of
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