Did you ever have a Fax machine?
Yesterday I was sorting through mountains of very old Fax letters that I'd sent to various people (why I kept them I have no idea), and I came across a few that I thought I'd keep; the above is a good example. Most of the others involve strange drawings.
I quite liked Faxing, at the time it seemed very 'sophisticated'. It made a recognisable noise as it came through, delivered a hard copy, and usually prompted an immediate response.
My last Fax machine got blown-up in a storm. I was expecting some rather 'smart' dinner guests when a bloody great bolt of lightning hit the house. There was a huge BANG with lots of sparks, all the lights went out, and with my friends arriving any minute I was left with no power and a smoking Fax machine. At the same time I lost all my spot bulbs, plus an old fashioned but working 'music centre'. I suppose it could have been worse.
The Fax is a thing of the past nowadays, I don't miss it; frankly Email is so much better.
p.s. I can't even remember what the disaster was!
34 comments:
We've never had a fax machine, they remain a mystery to me. However I can hardly remember what life was like without email and the internet. How did we survive without them ?
Whatever the disaster was, getting a friend to come over and get drunk with you was a brilliant way to cope!
Sounds like me and my friend Marla. We've weathered many a storm over a bottle or two of red!
I wonder if we did?
You should frame it and put it on the wall.
I just re-read your post and see you have a few, and with drawings; frame them all.
I remember the strange warbling noise they made before coming through and the anticipation waiting for something to slowly arrive.
Most of the amusing ones concern the invention of an 'Easy Access Gate' for farmers. I was trying to invent a self-righting electric fence that farmers could simply drive over, then would spring back into position. P will tell you that farmers waste a lot of time opening and closing gates, electric fences, etc. Most of my ideas weren't too PC.
We also used to receive quite a few for other people who had similar phone numbers.
Oh dear, the old 'music centre', now I do feel old. Never had a fax machine, and not sure why, as they would be far easier sometimes than composing emails with attachments.
Is Israel is the only country that still uses fax? many companies here mostly insures companies still demand sending them faxes.
Israel is a very modern country, but in this case she seems to be clinging on to the past. No-one uses them in Europe any more.
Your Amoo was in the UK papers this morning!!!!
It was one of those stacking monstrosities, with radio, record deck, cassette player, CD player, microwave, etc. Not a huge loss.
I never had one - their glory was very short lived. You do sound a bit of a drama queen in that message - wonder what the disaster was - probably something like a broken finger nail or something.
Fax machines are still used by Norfolk County Council. They were going to be phased out a few years ago but they are still there and used daily and lots of my work comes through on grotty faxes with lines down the middle.
You surprise me; but not about the lines.
Ah I see. Good idea. The electric fences always were a problem, you could hardly see the wire for a start. Anyway, the disaster one above is still a good one.
Seeing who it was sent to, I think it must have been PLUMBING related.
We have a FAX machine in the loft gathering dust - somewhere... should I put it on e-bay ?
Perhaps Tom will buy it ?
Keep it another two weeks; it'll become an antique.
I remember last year a company (insurance?) told me they would accept a faxed signed document but not an emailed signed document. Not familiar with faxes, I've no idea of the difference.
Back in the 70s I worked on Telex machines. Good for ticker-tape parades.
I liked the old Telex machines.... they meant business!
I got paid by a tight-arsed barrister once by sending a fax in huge, black felt-tip pen demanding my money - to his shared chambers!
When you remember what the disaster was (it will come to you in the middle of the night probably) you will share won't you?
That would certainly help concentrate the mind.
I think it may have been my electric water heater that had packed up.
My very first job after college involved standing next to the fax machine and feeding pages and pages of contracts into it. It always used to eat the paper or run out of paper when receiving faxes. I hated it!! I couldn't believe it when I started working in school 4 years ago and they had a fax machine, talk about step back in time!
Twiggy
Haha....indeed!
Not long before mine was 'blown-up' I was finding it difficult to buy those rolls of fax paper. It seemed as if the suppliers had already decided that they were ready for the scrap heap.
Is it time stamped? How interesting to acknowledge a disaster but postpone sharing the need for commiseration. i.e., just an excuse for tying on one, yes?
My very first job after leaving school was working in an architect's office and I spent a lot of time copying plans on an antiquated machine - can't remember what it was called. Amazing how all those things have disappeared isn't it? Tape recorders - what happened to them?
You're last sentence pissed me off
I so wanted to hear the rest of the story
They are now single sheet feed so you just bung in a ream of A4 paper.
All that I remember about Fax machines was when I rung the Fax number instead of the telephone number by mistake and got that squeaky noise in my ear !!!!! …. and, my husband did have a fax machine at his company. I think that I sent a Fax about twice !! XXXX
A large office supply store near us still offers fax services. So does our local library. We faxed something to our insurance company just a few months ago!
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