OT Why is the fax machine not dead

[AZ Nomad]

more like: step 3 put document in a place where it'll get seen the following morning step 4 workday : remember document left home. send self an email step 5 at home, put document in car step 6 at work, completely forget step 7 at home, remember document still needs to be faxed, send self another email step 8 at work, see email, go back downstairs get document, and finally fax it

faxing requires a phone line and involves absolutely horrendous document quality. For me where I sign less than three documents in a year, having the fax and phone line simply aren't worth it.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Good program if you need all the features. We use PDF995 and it does everything we need for 10 bucks instead of $300

[Dan Lanciani]

| I called the bank today to dispute a direct draft charge to my | checking account. The girl said she would fax me a form. I asked her | if she could just email it to me. She said....no sir, we can't do | that.

You could always ask her to show you the fax that authorized the direct draft in the first place...

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

[Han]

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in news:GnbFl.18918$as4.7852 @nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com:

I could get the academic version discount. Acrobat 9 Pro for ~$90. Since it is for work, it isn't my $90 either. But ..., I hate the bloat of the program, and the fact that the menu structure changed, plus now it does not support having child windows anymore, and opens complete new windows for each document. But I needed it for work - filling out forms etc for grants. Yuck!!

[George]

Sure, but there are lots of ways to do that aside from faxing a paper document. Lots of organizations are stuck in the past because of inertia or just pinching the pennies too much. Think about Fedex or UPS as an example. 15 years ago the driver handed you a clipboard and indicted what line you needed to sign. Now he hands you a computer and has you sign on a screen with a stylus and minutes later your signature can be viewed on their website.

[George]

I had pagers for years. For a while they were good until cell coverage really improved. The biggest disadvantage of a pager was that if you were out of range the message was lost forever. With a cellphone if someone sends a message the system will keep it until your handset registers itself on the network. Same is true of voicemail. The pager carriers tried to address this with two way pagers but it was too little too late.

[Stormin Mormon]

We don't know what number we dialed. So, how are we going to call the police and have them charged?

"Hello? Police? I sent a fax, and I'm not sure where. But whoever it was that got the fax, I want them arrested if they didn't destroy it cause I'm not sure who got it. HELLO???"

[DerbyDad03]

re: Your router at home doesn't have places to plug a cable in?

There are lots of wireless routers that don't have wired ports - other than the port to connect to a cable modem. When I replaced my wired router with wireless so my kids and their friends could use their laptops, it was easier (and cheaper) to find routers with no wired ports. I think I paid about $15 - 20 more for a wireless router with 4 wired ports.

[gfretwell]

IBM and Motorola worked on this as a joint project in the late 70s and actually had a working prototype I saw in Phoenix in 1980 but this quickly morphed into the Motorola Portable Terminal. Once you go 2 way, why not actually send some data? That was basically a Blackberry in a 30 oz "brick" about the size of your typical router these days. We had them in our hands in 1985. That used the same basic RF technology as the Moto "brick" phone with a 68000 processor, 40 character display and querty keyboard.

[Phisherman]

Fax machines are obsolete but many small businesses still use them. Many people still resist paperless. Filing cabinets are still around, but less of them unless it's government.

[Cindy Hamilton]

Bwah, hah hah. Every month I give our CFO a report on engineering hours, on paper. He types them into Excel. I've offered to send him the hours already in Excel, but he'll have none of it.

Cindy Hamilton

[DerbyDad03]

re: "Fax machines are obsolete"

Perhaps you should give us your definition of "obsolete".

I'm having trouble finding one that fits the profile of a device that is still in extremely wide spread use, still for sale and still built into the latest multi-function printers.

[DerbyDad03]

I'm not sure that your FedEx/UPS example fits very well.

I understand that you are just giving one example of the many ways technology can replace an actual signature, but a key factor in your example is that the driver still *hands* the client something, meaning that there is face-to-face interaction.

I can't mail a "computer" to my client in a different state/country and ask him to sign the computer and mail it back. I also can't ask all of my individual clients and all of the businesses/agencies I deal with to upgrade to a digital signature method - heck, some of my most wealthy clients don't even own a computer.

My guess is that paper is not going away for a long time, long time and therefore neither is the Fax machine or snail mail.

[DerbyDad03]

re: Lots of organizations are stuck in the past because of inertia or just pinching the pennies too much

I just met with a client that is an RN in a pediatric practice. She was saying that by law they are going to have to go paperless as far as charts within 8 years. The expense to do this appears to be more than this small practice can handle. I don't think that it is a "penny- pinching" issue as much as there just isn't enough bottom line cash available to cover the costs of the transition. They are discussing salary cuts across the board - from the doctors to the receptionist - and/or layoffs to cover the mandated costs.

[metspitzer]

That is what happens with my Medical Labs too. My main hospital is about an hour and a half drive, so they let me do labs near home. The local lab faxes the labs to my hospital and they have to enter the results into the computer.

I asked once why they didn't just send them the Excel file. She said, these computers are not connected to the Internet.

[George]

I think there is a little overreaction because paperless systems aren't that expensive that they would bust any practice except maybe a free clinic. Likely it is more of an objection to the culture change. Also it isn't like charts are free. You need a record room to store them and even a small practice likely has a full time person just to pull the charts based on the daily schedule, and to process them and refile them.

However I am against any government mandate because I don't want them involved in my personal business any more than they already are. I think the market should decide when it makes sense. If a doc decides he/she doesn't want to play it should be their choice.

[DerbyDad03]

Why doesn't this line instill any confidence in me?

"Sam's Club would be the one-stop contact for any physician follow-up questions about the system. "

[metspitzer]

But it could be....

Step 1 - Digitally stamp (or sign with graphic tablet) (or use a mouse and MSPaint) Step 2 - Email

(No trees were harmed in the making of this document)

This would also allow you to send the document to a specific person instead of the department fax machine.

[DerbyDad03]

re: "...send the document to a specific person instead of the department fax machine. "

You gonna be there when my Compliance Officer comes storming into my office after I circumvent the corporation's compliance regulations?

[Ed Pawlowski]

*****************************

Thank you for reminding me why I never worked for a big corporation.