Fax

Fax (short for facsimile - from Latin "fac simile", "make similar", i.e. "make a copy" - or telefacsimile) is a telecommunications technology used to transfer copies of documents, especially using affordable devices operating over the telephone network. The words telecopy and telefax are also used as synonyms.

Overview

A fax machine is essentially an image scanner, a modem, and a computer printer combined into a highly specialized package. The scanner converts the content of a physical document into a digital image, the modem sends the image data over a phone line, and the printer at the other end makes a duplicate of the original document.

Related Topics:
Image scanner - Modem - Computer printer

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Obviously, a very high-quality fax machine with some additional electronics can connect to a computer, and can be used to scan documents into a computer, to print documents from the computer, and to make photocopies. Such high-end devices are called multifunction printers and cost more than fax machines.

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Modern fax technology became feasible only in the mid-1970s as the sophistication and cost of the three underlying technologies improved to a reasonable level. Fax machines first became popular in Japan, where they had an clear advantage over competing technologies like the teleprinter; at the time, before the development of easy-to-use input method editors, it was faster to handwrite kanji than to type the characters. Over time, faxing gradually became affordable, and by the mid-1980s, fax machines were very popular around the world.

Related Topics:
1970s - Japan - Teleprinter - Input method editor - Kanji - 1980s

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However, although most businesses still maintain some kind of fax capability, the technology appears increasingly dated in the world of the Internet.

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