Updated February 13, 2023
FAX (Facsimile Automatic Xerox)
The official full form of FAX is Facsimile Automatic Xerox. It may be a thing of the past for the new generation, but FAX is similar to a scanner with images and text on a page. The only difference is that FAX sends documents from one place to another using the telephone line. I might sound like I am making this up but bear with me! FAX machines were all the rage before electronic mail, commonly known as e-mail, came into existence. People used FAX machines to send documents electronically through a telephone network, and it was usually considered only for official purposes. Don’t get me wrong, these machines are still in use, but there has been a decline in recent years.
In the beginning, FAX needed a lot of time to go through completely. The average time for one page was around six minutes. I can hear you gasp in disbelief, but I am just stating facts here, my friend. Now, the time reduced to about one minute, which is a lot because we have faster means of communication at our disposal.
Invention of FAX
Since you know what FAX stands for, let me tell you more about its history. Trust me, it is exciting, but in case not to send you running for the hills, I’ll keep it short. The person who set things into motion with his ‘Electric Printing Telegraph’ in 1843 was none other than *drumroll please* Scottish inventor Alexander Bain! The first version was a mechanical FAX, and it underwent many modifications over the years to become the Internet FAX as we know it.
Following the invention, Alexander went ahead and got a patent for it. Later, Frederick Bakewell improvement of the original design in 1865. A lot of enhancements took place for efficiency. We have always heard that there is always room for improvement, so what do you think happened next? Of course, an inventor named Shelford Bidwell 1880 built the scanning phototelegraphy for the first time. A FAX machine successfully scanned an original two-dimensional document without needing any manual drawing or tracing.
First Transmission
The first satellite transmission through the FAX machine was done in 1960 when the United States Army decided to transmit an image from the United States of America to Puerto Rico. The new age came in 1996 with the advent of the world wide web; some might be familiar with it, but it is now called the Internet! It allowed the common public to access FAX through computers.
How Email Replaced FAX?
For several reasons, e-Mail has recently replaced FAX machines everywhere, from workplaces to educational institutions.
- It is easier to send data through the internet compared to FAX.
- Sharing information over the internet is more cost-effective, as it reduces the FAX system’s installation cost.
- Attention to quality made people choose to send data over the internet.
- People can share the data with multiple people over e-Mail with the help of CC and BCC options.
- Transfer of any data, let it be text messages to videos, without any compromise in the quality.
- There are chances of losing the information due to signal errors or paper jamming.
Final Thoughts – Full Form of FAX
FAX is a simple form for Facsimile Automatic Xerox. It is a machine that includes a scanner and a printer that scans and sends the data. However, recently e-Mail replaced the FAX machines on the existence of the internet.
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