Why wont fax's just die already?

[AlfBaz]

Especially when dealing with government agencies, they invariably need you to fax paperwork in. I need to rummage through my "bin o' old crap" to dig out an old modem or go to the post office and pay 3 bucks to fax off a page. I just find this ridiculous.

I was around when a fax was essential, back in the day even joke faxes circulated from office to office.

Are regulations and procedures so entrenched that they can't move to present day technology or am I missing something?

[dr.diesel]

I have the same feeling for Microsoft Windows....

Utter garbage for some reason needlessly procreates.

[c4757p]

I was around when a fax was essential, back in the day even joke faxes circulated from office to office.

My grandmother works in an office where this still happens!

I'd chalk it up to a distrust of electronics, combined with faxes not "feeling" electronic because handwriting still comes through. Hence why lots of (asinine) places will accept signatures by fax but not by email.

[Phaedrus]

Because many forms still require a handwritten signature, and electronic signatures are still new and distrusted. Also, DMV drones can't be expected to work out how .pdf files work...

[AlfBaz]

Electronic signatures? I had to fill out a form and send it back... Printed it out, filled it in, scanned it and emailed it. Not a damn "iiiihhhhh aahhh grrrhhh sshhhh" sound to be heard

As for verification scanned documents are much higher resolution and harder to dodgy up than a fax. Faxes can be bodged without computer skills, simply cut out the required signature and stick it where needed.

[jolshefsky]

Having just received a form by PDF and spent half an hour fighting with the computer to come up with a paperless solution to filling it out, I understand the reality of wanting to print, fill-out, and return things. It is quite comical to me that in the nearly 40 years that some form of "electronic messaging" has existed that nobody has figured out a way to get a fill-in-the-blank form to work!

So thank goodness for FAX! Friggin' thing just works.

[IanB]

Just today I was asked to fax some documents to have a charge removed from my credit card. I was astonished as I hadn't heard the word "fax" in years. I might ask if I can email scans instead, or maybe I'll just use the fax machine. Perhaps they didn't think everyone has email yet...

[David_AVD]

We still have a fax line, but not a conventional fax machine.  Each year I keep hoping the rid ourselves of the fax line, but just enough government customers insist on using it.

Incoming faxes are picked up by the server and appear as emails with a pdf attachment.  I'd guess that 75% of received faxes are marketing crap with the opt-out code.  I opt-out every time and it does reduce them, but why should I have to?   

I use an MFC for outgoing faxes, but those are very few and far between these days.  Most forms that need filling out and signing get scanned and emailed back.

[Psi]

The answer is simpler than that.
Fax's can't disappear until after 2015 or it would contradict the future predictions of the sci-fi bible and tear a hole in the fabric of the space time continuum.

[ignator]

I worked with the guy who owns the patent, Dave Nicholas (along with the University of Iowa, where he got his PHD).
They were still suing infringement in 1996. He figured out the huffman code for the white dead space that is sent between the black print lines.
And I agree that it should die. I wish there was free pdf generation without paying Adobe for their software. I understand newer versions of some applications have this built in, but you pay for it.
I've scanned in documents into jpg, gif formats and attach to emails, when signed forms are required.

[Psi]

I wish there was free pdf generation without paying Adobe for their software. I understand newer versions of some applications have this built in, but you pay for it.
I've scanned in documents into jpg, gif formats and attach to emails, when signed forms are required.

??  bullzip have had a totally free PDF tool for like 10 years.
http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php

You install it once and it adds a new virtual printer.
In any windows program that can print you select that printer. Then when you click "print" it pops-up asking for a file name and where you want to put the PDF.

[AlfBaz]

I wish there was free pdf generation without paying Adobe for their software.

Cute PDF

[rexxar]

I was around when a fax was essential, back in the day even joke faxes circulated from office to office.

My grandmother works in an office where this still happens!

I'd chalk it up to a distrust of electronics, combined with faxes not "feeling" electronic because handwriting still comes through. Hence why lots of (asinine) places will accept signatures by fax but not by email.

There are some places that will only take handwritten, faxed signatures. You can't stamp a signature on the paper, they'll know. 

[poorchava]

Haha,  that reminds me of when they installed 'electronic dean's office' in our university.  And the 'electronicness' meant that you had toprint out the form, fill it and then go to the dean's office by yourself to file it :-)

[Rick Law]

Newer and more powerful technology doesn't necessarily means better.

Most old ladies can get a fax at the store, plug it in to the phone jack and it works.  Can't say that for PC's or Pads.

It takes no training for a truck driver to go over to the fax and get the delivery information.  It takes specialized training (SAP, whatever) for the truck driver to log in and print the delivery information...not to mention the cost of the software.

The best solution is the cheapest and simplest one that can do the job with minimal fuss.

[ignator]

I wish there was free pdf generation without paying Adobe for their software.

Cute PDF

Thank you, I tried searching for a freeware version earlier this year when I retired, and could not find one that runs on win2K, this one does. Thank you.

[ignator]

I wish there was free pdf generation without paying Adobe for their software.

??  bullzip have had a totally free PDF tool for like 10 years.
http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php

You install it once and it adds a new virtual printer.
In any windows program that can print you select that printer. Then when you click "print" it pops-up asking for a file name and where you want to put the PDF.

I tried downloading and install, it says it's compatible with win2K, but on install barfs and says OS not supported. But thanks anyway.

[David_AVD]

Thank you, I tried searching for a freeware version earlier this year when I retired, and could not find one that runs on win2K, this one does. Thank you.

Someone is still using Win2K ??   

[Psi]

I wish there was free pdf generation without paying Adobe for their software.

??  bullzip have had a totally free PDF tool for like 10 years.
http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php

You install it once and it adds a new virtual printer.
In any windows program that can print you select that printer. Then when you click "print" it pops-up asking for a file name and where you want to put the PDF.

I tried downloading and install, it says it's compatible with win2K, but on install barfs and says OS not supported. But thanks anyway.

Maybe try an older version, its been around for ages so there probably was a version which ran in 2k

[steve30]

I can see why fax may be useful sometimes, but why not just use the post?

I deal with government agencies often here in England and the only way to communicate with them is by telephone or post. You pretty much telephone to talk to someone, and use the post for anything else.

A couple of years ago, the Job Centre told me to take something to a Job Centre office to have it faxed (quicker than post). I took it to the office, and they said, 'Oh, we don't fax things; we just post them for you'.

I don't know about other countries, but I don't think fax machines were that popular in homes here. I have certainly never been asked to send anything by fax. I've often encountered businesses that have them though.

[ignator]

Someone is still using Win2K ??   

Yes, it's paid for, runs supper fast on newer cheep (used) hardware. But MS is working at killing it by releasing new versions of web page compiling software, that require browsers that will not run on win2K. So watch it, as pretty soon you will be using an OS that you have to buy apps only from MS, i.e. no 3rd party open source free stuff like open office and such.I paid for multiple versions of DOS, win3.x, 95, 98, and just one 2000 and 7 (which I hate). I like how it works, know where stuff is, and it does not create virtual folders to override where I want files placed.Tell me what new features (if I don't have a touch screen) that latest version of windows provides? Other then win7 forced standard driver interfaces, so you don't mess with them anymore. They still don't have an improved human interface, I don't see where they made the "glue" interface to voice input, or eye tracking input. The don't watch your statistical usage of the machine, so you still do the same repetitive human input mouse operation. I'm waiting for MS to do something new, that I'm willing to pay for. Oh, ya aren't they thinking of the "cloud" for OS download every time you boot. So please, I may be using old stuff, but it works, and has minimal annoyance to me. I know my win2K day's are numbered. So I'll evolve to XP.

[ignator]

Maybe try an older version, its been around for ages so there probably was a version which ran in 2k

I tried looking (for an earlier version), but I could only find their web page as a download source, and only the latest was downloadable. It could be my antique FF 12 does not display buttons that may be on their page (I know XP is in my future).
I tried reporting it to them, but could not get past their security keyin.

[Dagon]

I know XP is in my future

You know support for XP is being dropped next year...

[SeanB]

I still have a thermal Panasonic fax in my office, and I use it as a very nice phone with a very good handsfree function, and it works well for this. I occasionally send a fax with it, at least i did send 2(?) this year. I also have a spare one, just in case it breaks. They were going to be thrown away, but I plugged one in and it was better than the phone I had.

As to trailing edge OS's I still have a PC around running Win98, and connected to the network as well, though remoting to it is not good as it tends to crash the desktop on closing the remote VNC connection. Still in use running a phone software as a single app, and I have a backup machine for it as well. Some spare 4G drives as well.

With printing to PDF, it is pretty much a free part of CUPS, and works well.

[liquibyte]

Newer and more powerful technology doesn't necessarily means better.

Most old ladies can get a fax at the store, plug it in to the phone jack and it works.  Can't say that for PC's or Pads.

It takes no training for a truck driver to go over to the fax and get the delivery information.  It takes specialized training (SAP, whatever) for the truck driver to log in and print the delivery information...not to mention the cost of the software.

The best solution is the cheapest and simplest one that can do the job with minimal fuss.

You've obviously never been a truck driver.  You can scan your load documents in cab with a scanner over qualcomm now.  When I was driving I didn't have one but all of the major truck stops have the scanners as well.  Not to mention, there are numerous things that you can do in and to a truck that require being geeky.