Fast Fax - A Long History and a Modern Truth
by Angelina Jordan
Published on this site: October 18th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
The facsimile, or fax as we call it today was one of the earliest
concepts in modern technology. First patented in 1843 by Scottish
physicist Alexander Bain, the fax is an encoding and/or imaging
method that reads text and/or images in small areas at a time,
assigns numerical values based on darkness and lightness and then transmits them to a receiver. The receiver produces
corresponding marks on paper as the transmitting fax proceeds
to scan the next lower line continuing until the entire document
has been scanned, digitized and transmitted.
We typically think of the fax as transmitting documents via
telephone line, but history verifies that Bain patented his
original invention 33 years before the telephone and Morse
code became standard transmission methods. The facsimile made
its official debut at the 1853 World's Fair in London with
English physicist Frederick Bakewell conducting the first public demonstration
of fax transmission. By 1865, Italian physics professor Giovanni
Caselli had launched the first commercial fax system linking
Paris with other French cities.
Not to be outdone by the Europeans or by having just missed
the patent for the telephone by three hours, American professor,
Dr. Elisha Gray of Omnifax sold his facsimile patent to the
Gray National Teleautograph Company. A demonstration of his
fax system generated record-breaking crowds at the 1893 Chicago
World's Fair.
The fax continued to advance and was significantly furthered
by the work of German scientist Dr. Alfred Korn. Though not
to be outdone by the Europeans, In 1922, his facsimile system
was utilized to transmit a photo of Pope Pius XI from Rome
to the state of Maine in the U.S. enabling the New York World
newspaper to publish the photo the same day. The military drafted the
fax for use in 1941 to transmit weather charts, maps and orders
during World War II.
Newspapers relied on faxes to provide them with up-to-the
minute details and photos from political conventions and other
news-worthy events from around the world. Although the FCC
authorized the development of commercial fax technology in
1948, it would be the mid 1970's before it caught on in the
mainstream of daily business operations, but even then only
in limited industries due to complicated technology and expensive
costs. By the mid 1980's though, fax operations were simpler
and less expensive and set the world of big business ablaze
in a way that forever changed the way the modern world does
business.
Corporations and large organizations worldwide began implementing
the fax as their primary method of communications. Authorizations,
customer orders and verifications could be delivered within
minutes instead of waiting for postal pickup and delivery, which took forever. The cost to productivity
ratio proved a profitable investment for sizable enterprises.
Faxing can still be a heavy expense on small businesses,
especially for professionals who work from home. There's the
cost of the fax machine itself and the cost of ink cartridges,
toner and paper, not to mention the cost of additional phone
lines and/or expensive software if small business owners opt
for strictly computer-based faxing. While e-mailing documents
is an option, e-mails often go astray and frequently the computer
receiving an attached document does not feature the software
application required for opening the document. Thousands of
home based businesses rely on faxing for document editing
that bypasses the need to have compatible, expensive software.
With faxing being a necessity in today's business world instead
of a luxury, how can small business owners and work-from-home
pros offset the high cost without passing it along to their
clients? There has to be an affordable fax option that keeps
them competitive with other businesses.
And there is ... once again the Internet-age comes to the
rescue with cost-effective faxing for small business owners
and work-from-home pros leveling the playing field so they
can be not only more productive, but also more competitive
in their markets. Online faxing gives them a decisive advantage
in doing business.
I'm sure you've heard about online faxing, but you've also
heard about the expensive set-up fees that go along with it.
Your budget is stretched to the limit now and a hefty set-up
fee just isn't in the cards.
Well, you can scratch that expense off your list of luxuries
by visiting <a href="http://www.faxitnice.com">http://www.faxitnice.com</a>
for a simple, affordable option. They've broken the well-kept
industry-secret that there is NOTHING to be set-up on an individual
basis in Internet faxing, which means that there's no reason
for online faxing to be expensive.
In business since 2003, FaxIt Nice offers its clients two
affordable service options, the OnceOff Fax and the FaxIt
Credit. OnceOff Fax is designed for someone sending a one-time
and/or occasional fax. FaxIt Credit offers a FREE membership
with NO monthly fees. You simply purchase a pre-determined
amount based upon your individual business needs in $20 increments
at valuable per page savings with deep discounts for volume
purchases.
Give your small business the big business advantage by using
the FaxIt Nice services developed by 350 Nice and ditch the
last minute trips to the office supply store for expensive
toners and drums. It's a cost-effective way, available 24
hours a day to any country in the world to give your business
the competitive edge it takes to be successful in today's
market!
Angelina Jordan is a freelance writer and editor
specializing in serving the needs of small business owners.
She offers over 15 years' solid experience in drafting quality
content and providing comprehensive copyediting in the business
and non-profit arenas. Contact her via e-mail message to [email protected]
to discuss your business writing and editing needs
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