Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-ncis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!nosc!ucsd!rutgers!mcnc!rti!bcw
From: bcw@rti.UUCP (Bruce Wright)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Junk Fax (was Re: Request for poll of ten best/worst products of 88)
Summary: FAX is not a fad
Message-ID: <2696@rti.UUCP>
Date: 6 Jan 89 07:17:58 GMT
References: <210@imspw6.UUCP> <867@atux01.UUCP> <10@blender.UUCP> <5207@brspyr1.BRS.Com>
Organization: Research Triangle Institute, RTP, NC
Lines: 65

In article <5207@brspyr1.BRS.Com>, davef@brspyr1.BRS.Com (Dave Fiske) writes:
> 
> Better yet, on a recent NBC News report about Fax machines, someone
> said their policy is to get a long piece of paper, tape the ends
> together to form a loop, and just let the machine go for a few hours,
> continuously sending it to the junk mailer.
> 
> Although I think there are some very good uses for facsimile
> transmission, it seems that the ones whic are promoted and carried on
> are the trivial and non-cost-effective ones: sending orders to delis,
> sending requests to radio stations, and sending typewritten text
> documents (which could have been typed on a computer, instead).
> 
> Unless the companies pushing faxes start promoting more serious uses, I
> see this as a 2 or 3 year fad.

As far as I know none of the people I deal with has had much trouble
(yet) with junk fax.  I'm sure that when they do, the junk fax will
get all the attention they deserve. :-)

But even for transmitting typewritten text, fax can be a real lifesaver.
Not all typewritten text is coming from a device which is compatible with
the computers which might have to be made to talk to each other; besides
the obvious real typewriters (which still exist :-) you get all sorts of
other situations.  For example, last summer we were able to troubleshoot
the problems a customer in Japan was having by looking at fax listings
of data line monitor listings.  Now it might have been possible to convert
the data line monitor output to something digestible by a PC and then
eventually fight your way through several systems transmitting it via 
KERMIT (or whatever), but this would still not include any handwritten
notations (like "problem starts HERE").  Much as we would like, things
just don't always talk to each other well - fax can cut through all this.

Nothing that I see happening is likely to change the need for this kind
of rapid communication in the near future - it means more than just changes
in modem and computer technology (bad enough);  it means major changes in 
the way people work.  Lots of times text that's produced isn't on a
computer;  also you often want to send something that's inherently
graphical in nature (reprints, photographs, drawings, etc).

On the other hand, I really don't see much point in the fax-as-computer-
peripheral.  In order to be really useful, you need a very high-quality
output device (like a laser printer) and a scanner - otherwise you just
have a fancy way to send text which isn't too much different from a modem.
By the time you've paid for the board+scanner+printer you've paid _more_
than what a real fax costs.  Arguably this arrangement is more powerful,
but it is being sold as being _cheaper_.  Seems to me it's cheaper in only
a few situations where it is for some reason never necessary to send or
receive graphics (and therefore you can cut the expensive printer and
scanner) and where you need to send fax as opposed to text files on a
modem link.  I have a hard time thinking of any but specialty applications
for this sort of product.  Salesmen for example often send quotes by fax
because the customers want quotes quickly, but they often send graphics
too ... rendering the PC based products as less than ideal.

There is no question that there are some places which have become too
caught up in the "gee whiz" of fax, but the technology itself is
enormously useful and is likely to be around a long time.  I don't know
what "companies promoting fax" you are referring to;  if it is the fax
sales companies, well, caveat emptor.  You only need fax if you need
fast turnaround with correspondents inside or outside your organization -
which is not universal but not uncommon either.  Trying to make fax solve
every problem is silly.

						Bruce C. Wright