From: callahan@itr.wa.com (John Callahan)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures,alt.fax
Subject: Re: Future of fax?
Date: 12 Apr 92 17:19:29 GMT
Reply-To: callahan@itr.wa.com (John Callahan)
Organization: Information Technology Research, Seattle, U.S.A.
X-Mailer: uAccess - Macintosh Release: 1.5v4


In article <RZuZiB1w164w@uuisis.isis.org> (comp.society.futures,alt.fax), doug@uuisis.isis.org (Doug Thompson) writes:
> callahan@itr.wa.com (John Callahan) writes:

Well reasoned response deleted.
 
> 
> So all the changes are in the direction of e-mail. 
> 

Agreed.  However, it is easily possible for a technology's proponents to become
too enthusiastic about the magnitude and timing of a technology's impact.
I know that I certainly have in the past.

> FAX is not really cheap. FAX is convenient and fast when compared to
> postal mail. That is why business uses it. Speed and efficiency. But it
> can't hold a candle to e-mail on that count among a computer literate
                                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> work-force.
  ^^^^^^^^^^
>

I am less optimistic than you are regarding the current level of computer
literacy.  I think that the user interface is the key.  When it is *easier*
for people to send e-mail than it is to send a fax, then e-mail will become
the preferred medium.  (I hope that this happens soon.  For me, e-mail is
easier to use than fax for information that is created in digital form --
like this response.)
 
> 
> We use FAX, we use e-mail, we use the post office, we even use TELEX
> from time to time. 

Ah yes, TELEX.  How soon one forgets.  The world just isn't very kind to old
technologies.

> We use whatever works. But we sure *prefer* to use
> e-mail wherever it is an option. And it is very rare that we use
> anything else when e-mail is an option. This is employee preference. 

Sometimes fax is the only option.  We do business with Japanese
clients.  Their preferred medium for communications is fax.  The first
rule in the consulting business is that you donUt *tell* your clients
how they *must* communicate with you.

Sometimes fax is the easier option.  In many cases, we need to send a
copy of something (i.e. a document or magazine article) which we have
in hard copy but not in digital form.  For example, last week I was
gathering some information for a colleague on the East Coast.  I
gathered information on three companies through telephone conversations
with company representatives and sent that in an e-mail message to my
colleague.  The next day, the representative of a fourth company faxed
the information on that company.  I sat down and began to compose an e-mail
message conatining that information.  Well, I soon concluded that this was
not a good use of my time and simply faxed a copy of the information to my
colleague.

> 
> Simplicity, convenience.
> 

This is the key to the acceptance of any technology.  Most people reading
this are, as I am, willing to endure the pain necessary to use new technologies.
What we often forget is that *normal* people are not willing to endure such
pain.  They get no thrill from using advanced technologies (poor souls).

I am optimistic that the advent of multimedia computing may provide the
integrated communication medium that I would like to see.  When cheap
scanners are part of every computer system, it will be easy to combine
scanned immages (i.e. a documents, magazine article, copies of ads or brochures)
with digitally originated text and images.  With that level of convenience,
fax machines will begin to gather dust. 




 

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John Callahan (callahan@itr.wa.com)          SnailMail:
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Newsgroups: comp.society.futures,alt.fax