Fax Machine

The fax machine

The first commercially successful fax machine was made by Xerox in 1964, before that all the machines were too costly and difficult to operate. A fax machine converts a scanned image to bitmap and then into audio tones that are transmitted over the phone lines to another fax machine. The receiving fax machine then interprets the audio tones and reconstructs an image, printing it onto paper.

Fax machines today

There was a time fax machines were present in almost every office, it was the standard mode of sending and receiving documents. Today there are still a lot of fax machines in use, it is considered a safer mode of sending documents in certain cases.

In some countries a faxed signature is legally accepted, this keeps the format alive.

Faxes fade

Given the fact that most faxes print onto thermal paper, the print fades over time. Thermal paper is coated with a chemical which degenerates after exposure to UV rays and moisture, among other things, leading to the printed parts fading eventually.

Comments

Given that fax machines are from an older format of communication and technology they are cheaper than they used to be. The prices generally are mid-range, with some machines that cost more but those are the ones that have combined features of a printer, scanner and fax.

The brands that are producing fax machines that are doing well in the market include Panasonic, Samsung, Brother and Epson.