Facts About Faxing
As telephones and computers become mobile devices, it is easy to forget about one of the most popular data inventions of the past century--the fax. The fax machine is no longer office-bound, and today's faxes are sent over phone lines and over the Internet, across formats and across miles. Faxing has a bright future--and a fascinating history.
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History
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Although most traditional fax machines work using telephone lines, the fax machine actually predates the telephone. Alexander Bain invented the fax machine in 1843, three decades before the telephone was patented. Alexander Bain's fax machine used telegraph wires to transmit messages.
"The first users of facsimile were newspapers to transmit and receive photos from around the world," according to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. "The next users of facsimile were the weather services around the world."
Function
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The concept of Alexander Bain's fax machine is the basis of today's fax machine.
Fax machines work by scanning text or images a bit at a time. The machine assigns the number 0 for white areas of the image or text, and the number 1 for dark areas. The fax transmits the series of numbers to the receiving machine, which "reads" them and marks them on the page.
Digital faxes work by sending a scanned copy of the image, or a copy of a file, to an email address.
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Significance
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The ability to send large documents in a matter of minutes has made faxing an important aspect of many businesses, especially in legal and health care settings.
Digital faxing allows for sending and receiving of facts across platforms: a fax sent from a computer to a fax machine, or from a scanner/copier/fax to a computer, making faxing versatile and convenient.
Use
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Although it was predicted that email and other Internet communications would stall the usage of fax machines, faxing is alive and well.
"This is especially the case in Japan," reports Telecom Corner, "where (fax) is used to transmit the complex Japanese Kanji character set. Some estimates indicate that 90 percent of Japan's overseas telecommunications consist of FAX transmissions. "
Fun Fax Facts
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The term "fax" is short for "facsimile," which refers to an exact copy of an image.
At least 80 percent of U.S. citizens know what a fax machine is, and more than 60 percent have used one, according to the Telecom Corner.
Fax machines originally used rolls of paper to print received faxes. The first plain-paper fax machine was introduced in 1987.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit fax image by Attila Toro from Fotolia.com
