Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!CHEETAH.NYSER.NET!mrose
From: mrose@CHEETAH.NYSER.NET (Marshall Rose)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: Networks considered harmful
Message-ID: <22979.630044353@cheetah.nyser.net>
Date: 19 Dec 89 04:19:13 GMT
References: <8912190349.AA22939@cheetah.nyser.net>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: tcp-ip@nic.ddn.mil
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 60

> So, someone please tell me "What is so great about FAX?" and why can't
> those of us who use Email all the time convince the rest of the world
> how much better it really is??

What is great about FAX is really simple:

Reason 1:	FAX is turn-key in every aspect: any office person can
		install and use a fax machine without any serious training.

    For example, FAX addressing consists of using--get this--the telephone
    numbering system.  What an idea!  Why not use an addressing scheme that
    everyone is trained to use by their parents by age 5?

    In contrast, what does e-mail offer?  Well, it's this glop invented
    by computer people who probably never had a normal childhood!  The
    good old days of 

	user@host

    are now

	local@domain

    and if you're *real* lucky there aren't any '%' or '!'-signs involved.
    But, wait there's more, now computer people who probably never had a
    normal childbirth (or perhaps conception) are into the act and we have

	MHS-attribute-list

    and the format is in ABSTRACT SYNTAX or BINARY no less!

    Actually, the addressing thing leads us to the next reason, which, as
    Einar Stefferud points out, is the biggie.

Reason 2:	FAX uses an already existing, global infrastructure.

    The FAX infrastructure is--get this--the telephone system.  Everyone
    who needs to communicate has a connection to the telephone system.
    FAX machines hook up to this truly ubiquitous infrastructure.

    In constrast, there are gobs of networks supporting e-mail, some
    interconnected and some not.  If you live in the heart of the
    Internet, you probably thing that the Internet is ubiquitous.
    Although I have a personal 56K line going straight to my house and
    upstairs to my IP router, I must regretfully inform you that this is
    the exception and not the rule.

Summary:	FAX is a wonderful example of an 80-year old technology that
		is technically indefensible but has the world's best
		user interface: no training needed.

Having said all that, how can e-mail start competing?  Well, marketing
is a small part, but it's a second-order thing.  We need: a global,
e-mail infrastructure that is as ubiquitous as dial tone.  To do this,
we need to patch together all of the existing e-mail systems, make the
gatewaying transparent, adopt a global addressing scheme, and then start
making the technology accessible and usable by ordinary people who had
normal childhoods.

/mtr