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From: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Looking faxwards
Message-ID: <9001121813.AA05457@world.std.com>
Date: 12 Jan 90 18:13:25 GMT
References: <1990Jan12.163612.11730@aqdata.uucp>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 34


From: uunet!apple.com!usc!jarthur!aqdata!sullivan  (Michael T. Sullivan)
>>From article <9Z=962xds13@ficc.uu.net>, by peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva):
>> FAX *is* a step backwards.
>> 
>> Can you FAX a program, or other document that you need in computer
>> readable form? Conveniently? Reliably?
>
>That's not a fair question as FAX isn't meant to do that.  Can you send
>scanned images via email to my ascii terminal?  Of course not because it's
>not meant to do that.  FAX isn't supposed to be a tool to make
>programmers lives easier and it's not meant to be all things to all
>people but it is fulfilling the needs of millions of people (read: end
>users) which email sure isn't doing.

Well, the truth as usual lies somewhere in-between. In the first place
I'm not sure why these discussions take on such an either/or flavor,
as if it's inconceivable that an office would have use for both a fax
or fax-like communications method and e-mail. I think that's a
specious assumption, I also can't make voice calls on my postage
meter, etc.

According to DATAPRO the market for electronic mail software was
around $400M recently and is expected to grow past $1B in the early
1990's.

It's a little extreme to declare the death of either medium although
there is certainly some sense in trying to combine their similar
services.

        -Barry Shein

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