The fax was such a success here that it has proven hard to replace. It has grown unusually deep roots into Japanese society.
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Kenichi Shibata, a manager at NTT Communications, which led development of the fax machine technology in the 1970s. Last year, Japanese households bought 1.7 million of the old-style fax machines. (New York Times)
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0
Meguroman
Sorry but Xerox (of the US) was the leader of facsiimle technology building on earlier tech from Europe going back to the 19th century. People here are not as computer-literate as we would like to believe. Scanners & email wiped out the fax everywhere else. Every cheapo printer has a scanner function these days - once you you have that why on earth would need a fax? If you just can't avoid it (no printer at home), go to a conbini, the copy machines there do everything.
0
mikihouse
meguroman...theres no combini in the rural areas
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lucabrasi
Been here well over twenty years and haven't sent or received a fax for over twelve.
3
Kyle Alpert
@Meguroman
Japan is smart to continue to rely on their hardlines for business & civic communications. In terms of security and resilience, the Internet will never compare. Scanning & emailing guarantees access by unintended parties, if not now then at some time in the future. So, yes please continue to rely on fragile, sunburst/meteor/EMP/glitch-prone technology that relies on numerous, unknown intermediaries... ;)
0
tkoind2
Ok, to those of you still wasting power and paper on faxes. There is this very cool new product called "Email". It is pronounced "E" "Mail" and is a creative innovation for sending information to others.
You can use a file type called "pdf" and attach it to an email, the same way you might put something extra into an envelope when you send a letter. The "pdf" can be printed out if someone needs to have a hard copy. Or, you can just see it on your computer monitor. Since "pdf" cannot be edited by the recipient, it is as good as a fax.
Now do sit down, this technology is cutting edge and has only been out for about ten years or so. So I know the rush of knowledge here is pretty powerful. But don't be afraid. Things do change. And you can look at the wonderful upside. You don't need a dedicated phone line for email, only your existing internet. And you don't need to use so much paper or pay for the electricity for a fax machine. Plus you can get rid of all that junk fax by shutting your fax machine off.
For the low price of JPY1.5mil I can come by and throw your fax machine away for you and teach you about email. :)
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Meguroman
Kyle - you are under the impression that the lingering use of faxes here is about security and resilience? It is about lack of technology literacy - pure & simple. It is proof that there are plenty of old people here who haven
t taken classes at Aviva yet. If I miss dial a fax # it wont go through? My office used to receive faxes that weren`t for us, occasionally rather private ones much to our entertainment. Data transmissions over a phone line have magical powers against tapping and surveillance - since when?0
Kyle Alpert
It never fails to amaze how arrogant some would be, to assume a culture that glorifies 'hiding of strength/skill/knowledge' would be as clueless as many of them seem. Fax is quick, direct, and cuts out intermediaries. And thats there is one of the key aspects of Japanese ingenuity. Pay attention more.
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wanderlust
Virtually all Japanese 'tarento' and their agencies make their announcements of affairs, apologies, weddings, divorces, pregnancies, etc., via fax.
-2
tideofiron
E-mail comes from a specific person but faxes are sent from "an office" usually without a specific name attached. This conveniently removes the onus of personal responsibility from the sender, hence their popular use in Japan.
-1
BertieWooster
I was going to make a joke about Fax being new software and not on iTunes yet until I checked it.
There're tons of Fax apps on iTunes!
Like brother Lucabrasi, I haven't used or owned a fax machine for longer than I care to remember.
And I'm certainly NOT going to install it on either my iPhone or iPad.
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