“A fax machine is a machine that sends messages to another fax machine by a phone line, at the same moment, when the message is sent to the other machine, it decodes the message and prints it out” (Beau, n.d.). Hence, a process of faxing is by definition "a method of encoding data, transmitting it over a telephone line or radio broadcast, and receiving a hard copy of the text, line drawings, or photographs at a remote location” (Bellis, n.d.). The very first prototype of a fax machine dates back to the middle of 19th century when in 1843 Scottish inventor Alexander Bain created a machine that was transmitting to distances specific writing that was copied on a special surface by means of simple pens. Less than in 20 years an early form of fax machine was invented – the Pantelegraph – that could transmit handwriting, signature or picture of size of 150 × 100 mm. Arthur Korn in 1902 in Germany, demonstrated the first photovoltaic fax system, soon in 1907 having transmitted a photo from Munich to Berlin. Still, the world saw the invention of the main predecessor of fax machine in 1925 when Frenchman Edouard Belin presented the Belinograph. The mode of operation of which may be explained as “placing an image on a cylinder and scanning it with a powerful light beam that had a photoelectric cell which could convert light, or the absence of light, into transmittable electrical impulses” (Ament, 2005). In 1964 the Xerox Corporation gave inception to selling first fax machines to general public. By the end of the 1970s thanks to entering the market by Japanese fax machine producing companies facsimile transmission machines abandoned their characteristics of unhandy, costly machines and acquired a status of generally accessible devices with the help of which all genders and strata of community were able to share crucial information.
Fax machines brought much new in the everyday life of the whole mankind of that time. For sure, in 1970-80s during the peak of development of fax machines industry, world already knew other means of transfer of information: radio, telephone, telegraph, television, and satellite communications. However transmittal of information by means of fax machines was an important milestone in the development of civilization and was an impetus for further ideas regarding ways of delivery of information. Results of invention of fax machine to the everyday life definitely had positive repercussions. The way visual information was transmitted with the introduction of fax machines supplanted, for example, the use of modern jet aircraft to carry important imagery, it brought an end to long waiting of myriads of contracting parties, sides of multilateral negotiations, and ordinary people, it once again confirmed the beginning of new age – an age of high technologies and high speeds.
The volume of information transmitted over telephone lines was constantly increasing in the 1980s. In particular this resulted in improvement of fax machines functioning. Moreover, it was necessary to develop common standards that would allow users to share any information, regardless of the manufacturer of the machine. To that end, inventors were improving standards of faxing, the first one of which found its inception in 1968 when the Consultative Committee for International Telephone and Telegraph (CCITT) issued Group 1, the first international standard for fax (“Facsimile & SSTV History”, n.d.). All forms of communication were actively developing at that time, but faxing remained one of the most popular for a variety of reasons.
It is believed that fax communication is displaced by e-mail and other means to transfer files, but nevertheless its role in different spheres of human life is reducing sufficiently slowly. Aside from its convenience and simplicity, prevalence of fax machines worldwide, as well as unwillingness of some organizations to shift to other methods of communication – they are those factors that guarantee existence of fax machines in everyday use for decades in advance. Key reasons for the further development of fax communication are the following: presence of modern digital communication connections, such as satellite and optical ones causes a desire of developers of fax machines to pick up speed of transmittal of data. Major efforts on improvement of facsimile devices are concentrated at three target areas: achievement of high-speed transfer of images, improving the quality of the transmitted information, and the implementation of transmittal and receive in automatic manner. As we see, faxing is an integral (and even integrated) part of our today`s lifestyle, which role will remain unchanged for many years from now.
References
- Ament, P. (2005). Fax machine. The great idea finder. Retrieved from
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/fax.htm
- Beau. (n.d.). Fax machine. Oracle. Think Quest. Retrieved from
http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00451/fax.htm
- Bellis, M. (n.d.). History of the Fax Machine & Alexander Bain. About.com Guide. Retrieved from
http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventors/a/fax_machine.htm
- Brain, M. (n.d.). How Fax Machines Work. How Stuff Works. Retrieved from
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/fax/fax-machine2.htm
- Crosby, T. (n.d.). History of the Fax Machine. How Stuff Works. Retrieved from
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/fax/history-of-fax.htm
- Facsimile & SSTV History. (n.d.). HF-Fax. Retrieved from
http://www.hffax.de/html/hauptteil_faxhistory.htm
