I then receive or send a fax and wonder how, even today, if it would be possible to subsist with email alone. I think not. The fax has come a long way from the days of crinkly, glossy, rolls of paper that faded to brown after exposure to any bright light. It has become, and remains, an indispensable tool of doing business. Fax machines are ubiquitous .
Every business has one.
A fax machine is accessible to associates, vendors and customers wherever they are. Email can't match that universality and won't beat it until we all get PalmPilots or similar portable devices with wireless email support. The fax machine prints out, albeit usually in black and white, any page sent its way. Fax machines have met the ATM test . Because the fax machine is easy to use, nearly everyone has mastered this skill.