FAX MACHINES

Daniel W, Year 9 writes...

While the ability to message people over long distances was widespread with signalling systems, transmission of both images would only become accessible with developments of the fax machine throughout the 20th century. Fax machines operate by scanning a document into them, processing the scan into audio which can be sent through telephone systems and converted back by another machine so it can print a copy.

Prevalence

Fax machines were expensive, bulky and difficult to operate throughout the 1930s and 1950s; they failed to appeal to consumers and compete with media like home-delivered newspapers and radio. The Xerox corporation then introduced their Magnafax telecopier in 1966, weighing 21kg and being more consumer friendly, it allowed companies (especially Japanese ones) to purchase fax machines affordably and integrate them into the corporate environment.

Decline of the fax machine’s popularity has risen in the 21st century in response to the internet and email. However, many organizations still maintain a small degree of compatibility with fax machines due to a perceived security with its immunity to traditional methods of hacking such as the NHS which was one of the largest purchasers of fax machines, having at least 11,620 in June 2018 and only ceased operation of them in 2019.

Influence

With its ability to easily share information and accessibility, fax machines circulated material containing urban legends, jokes or cartoons that would lose visual fidelity each time it would be resent to the next recipient. The term “faxlore” has been coined to highlight the similarities between the circulation of fax and folklore.

The fax machine’s ubiquity in office spaces produced jokes that mildly subverted corporate culture by mockingly creating mandatory training programs with ridiculous details or humorous meeting agendas. A common joke circulated was a variation of the “Blinkenlights” poster, this was text of mock German in a blackletter-gothic typeface that pertained to the diagnostic lights on early mainframe computers but later plastered on office machines like photocopiers, practically warning people not to mess with them.

Fax material also preserved the culture surrounding it at the time such as the presence of ethnic humour which has declined in relevancy now but may have seen popularity with a common joke reading:

“Heaven is where the police are British, the lovers French, the mechanics German, the chefs Italian, and it is all organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the lovers Swiss, the mechanics French, the chefs British, and it is all organized by the Italians.”

Outside strictly corporate environments, the notorious “Blue Star Acid” hoax was an urban legend circulated by fax machine. The fax was distributed by parents and school officials concerned over a lick-and-stick tattoo that was soaked in LSD and in the shape of either a blue star or popular cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse. Although it stated that the tattoo was distributed to children to get them “addicted to LSD”, there was no documentation of any cases where this occurred.

Another hoax spread by fax include rumours stating that the company Procter and Gamble’s logo was a satanic symbol, referencing the 13 stars, the moon resembling the 6 in 666, and a fake claim that there was a Phil Donahue talk show episode where the president of P&G admitted it was a satanic symbol.

Telemarketers had also adopted the fax machine as a vehicle for advertising in the late 1980s due to its rising popularity providing a cheap platform with a large consumer audience. These junk faxes raised complaints from how it wasted toner, ink and paper from the consumer without costing the advertiser anything which prompted countries like the UK, US and Canada to enforce laws forbidding the unsolicited advertising in a fax.

The “Blue Star Acid” and Procter and gamble Hoaxes demonstrate the fax machine’s capacity for spreading misinformation and is evident of the issues inherent to any means of information sharing, drawing parallels with the internet climate of today.

Parallels with the internet

With the dawn of the early internet, “faxlore” had evolved into email, instant messaging and social networking sites. It had arguably laid the foundation for elements of internet culture such as memes which share similarities with how people constantly circulated faxes with easily consumable jokes and cartoons that elicits a brief chuckle.

The propagation of fake news on the internet can also be compared to the fax hoaxes warning parents of drugs and demonstrates how the exploitation of information sharing is enabled by its own accessibility.

The presence of advertisements on the internet can also be observed with the abundance of junk fax. Marketing on these platforms have always been perceived as pervasive, but while social media networks rely on advertisements to generate revenue in order to continue operating, fax machines don’t benefit from junk fax and the burden of printing them costs the consumers.

Conclusion

While we often think of the fax machine as an obsolete technology that only served as standard office equipment, it ushered in the internet age and allowed us to grow closer to people throughout the world.