> > > > > =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, Dick, 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.