Re: Is Fax Dead Yet?

On Apr 22, 9:31 pm, "Anonymous Remailer (austria)"
<mixmas...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Paul wrote:
On Apr 22, 2:10=EF=BF=BDpm, Nomen Nescio <nob...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Paul wrote:
=EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD Email and the modern scanner =
has made the FAX
a dinosaur.

You must not spend much time in the business world. I recently had
to manage a major project for a world wide banking conglomerate
that everyone knows by name, and everything "important" was done
using FAX. Absolutely nothing sensitive could be transmitted via
email, encrypted or otherwise.

I also recently went through a credit card dispute after being
swindled on a Christmas present purchase (bastards!). Every scrap
of paper and every statement I made had to be faxed. They wouldn't
even give me an email address, or even surf to the web site I built
that had everything nicely organized, documented, and explained in
detail. A web site hosted tight in my own living room no less.

I also do quite a bit of work for a largish law firm dealing
primarily with international property and copyright law. They've
gone largely paperless internally, but I'd estimate over 90% of
their external (non-hardcopy) correspondence is still FAX. They
actually decrypt archived documents before transmission and use a
networked Xerox "all in one" to FAX documents when it would
actually be *easier* to email them if their clients would only put
in place a free server and exchange keys properly. The whole thing
could be done transparently, and documents would be delivered
directly to the "addressee" rather than routed through whoever
happens to "check the FAX machine" that hour. ;-)

FAX dead? Not from where I sit it isn't. I can only guess at why
it's so, but if I had to my best would be that crypto is a "black
box" and FAX feels more "natural". FAX is (allegedly) a direct
transmission too, while everyone seems to have at least some small,
if sometimes alarmist, grasp of how "evil" email can be because it's
routed through every Tom, ***, and Jane server on the planet. FAX
transmissions are simply trusted more than email and crypto, and
oddly enough, for some valid reasons.
=20
I'm not saying it's completely dead, YET.

I'm saying it's not even feeling aged yet. First hand experience tells
me it's here to stay for any foreseeable future. Some of hte reasons
may be more valid than others, but the reasons are what they are. :)

=20
But it will be, once people realise it's not any
more secure than email. Also, it's super easy and free
to make your own PDF files now.

You're wrong about the security. On a level playing field FAX is
somewhat more secure than email because a FAX isn't sent through a
mutable chain of hops in clear text form, where any casual observer can
sniff and fondle it. Telephone calls do route through switches, but they
far harder to compromise than data routers or mail servers.


You're wrong in the sense that PGP is very popular now (
see other threads).

And if someone wants to snoop on you, they're
gonna find a way, even if they have to tap into your line.


=20
I've had to use a FAX maybe once in 3 years or so.

As I said you must not spend a lot of time out in the business world. I
FAX quite a bit actually. Several times a week at least.=20


Doesn't surprise me that the business world
is back in the stone ages.


But this is all coming from someone who still
watches tapes on a VCR, and still buys used tapes.
=20
But the industry has apparently stopped making
new VCR tapes, so it's only a matter of time.
=20
I'm sure there are still people who have 8-track
tapes too....

VHS and 8-track aren't valid analogies. For one they're mostly luxury
items and a luxury industry. For another, there's a issue of fidelity
that simply does not exist within the realm of FAX versus scanned/mail.

=20

What's so luxurious about a VCR tape?

I just buy them because it's not worth it for
me to spend money on a DVD that i end up not liking.
Which makes used tapes a great way to see new movies.
.