Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!think!redsox!campbell
From: campbell@redsox.bsw.com (Larry Campbell)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: Networks considered harmful
Message-ID: <1509@redsox.bsw.com>
Date: 22 Dec 89 02:51:58 GMT
References: <8912190403.AA05387@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Reply-To: campbell@redsox.UUCP (Larry Campbell)
Organization: The Boston Software Works, Inc.
Lines: 74

In article <8912190403.AA05387@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 702WFG@SCRVMSYS.BITNET (bill gunshannon) writes:
-But the truth is, FAX offers nothing that can't be done with the PC sitting
-on your desk. And the PC can even do it better.  You can send Email from
-PC to PC or PC to "Real computer" or "Real computer" to PC.  The softtware
-and hardware already exist.  In fact they have been around for years.
-The hardware we all have and the software doesn't even cost anything!!!

Complete hogwash.  Let me demolish this nonsense point by point:

(1) "FAX offers nothing that can't be done with the PC sitting on your desk"

Most people DON'T HAVE PCs sitting on their desk.  OK, fine, IF you have
a PC, AND a modem and telephone line, AND some software that you know how
to configure and use...  but you've now eliminated 90% of the average adult
population.

(2) "The PC can do it better"

Well, maybe.  IF the PC has a scanner, and a laser printer (gotta be able
to send hand-scribbled notes, newspaper articles with marginal commentary,
etc.), and a modem, and the right software, etc. etc.

(3) "The software doesn't even cost anything"

This is just plain stupid.  There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
Even if you get public domain software, SOMEONE has to configure it,
install it, fix it when it breaks, and upgrade it when external conditions
change.  None of this is free.  It costs REAL MONEY.

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH!!

-You can send text, you can send pictures, you can even send color pictures.

Yeah, right.  How do I send pictures over MCI Mail?  CompuServe?  Sure,
if you, the recipient, and I, the sender, have a prior arrangement about what
picture file format to use, and are we using uuencode or atob, etc. etc.
It's stupid to expect normal (non-technoid) humans to put up with that crap.

-And you can do it the same way you do with a FAX.  You can call the addressee
-on the phone and send it to him directly.  As a matter of fact it has probably
-reached the point where you can buy all the hardware necessary to do this for
-about the same price as one of those full featured FAX machines.

Oh, come on.  Let's talk real machines, not low-ball clones, because low-ball
clones have no support;  Joe Businessman has no time to waste on tracking
down bugs in his hardware.  He just wants it to work, yesterday.  So let's
assume a 286-based machine with hard disk and some memory, maybe $2,000
for a decent one.  Scanner, $1,000.  Laser printer, $2,000.  High-speed
modem, $500.  Software, $500 (this estimate probably low).  We're up to
$7,000 now.  Last I looked, decent FAX machines sold for one TENTH this price.

-Interestingly enough, the Email scenario has numerous advantages over the
-FAX scenario.  I can move more data quicker.  I can manipulate the data
-easier when it arrives.  And if the number is busy, I don't have to stand
-around and wait.  The PC can do it for me.

Fine.  Most people don't WANT to manipulate the data.  They just want to
get a page from point A to point B.  If they get tired of busy signals,
they use a FAX service bureau.

-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??

Because Email sucks.  Look, I'm *in the Email business*, and I still think
it sucks.  Before we're going to get anyone other than techno-geeks to use
Email, we need (1) UNIVERSAL connectivity, and (2) REAL ease of use.  Folks,
we're still a LONG way from that goal, and FAX has beaten us to it.  The
advantages of Email (which I do recognize) just don't matter to 90% of FAX
users.
-- 
Larry Campbell                          The Boston Software Works, Inc.
campbell@redsox.bsw.com                 120 Fulton Street
wjh12!redsox!campbell                   Boston, MA 02109