This morning, while reading a post in another blog, I saw an off-the-cuff remark saying that fax machines are no longer relevant. I would like to stand in the fax machine’s defense.

Of course, the argument is that e-mail is the better option. To a certain extent, this is true. I would propose, however, that email doesn’t solve every problem.

Suppose, for instance, that you have a paper document that you need top get to someone else quickly. Before you ask, no, you can not get the electronic original. What do you do?

If you have a scanner, you open up your scanning software, which will bring up the TWAIN or SANE interface. You fidget with a boatload of configuration options. You put your original on the glass and click “scan”. You then wait as your document is very slowly scanned into your machine. You put your next page on the glass and repeat. You save this all as a file. You attach the file to an email and send.

If you have a scanner with an automatic document feeder (ADF), then it is a little better, because you don’t have to change the pages. The rest is still a pain in the ass.

If you had a fax machine, on the other hand, you would drop the pages in the feeder, dial a number and hit “start” before walking away and letting the machine do the rest.

Now, mind you, there are some newer printer/scanner models (particularly by Xerox) that can make sending an email attachment really easy … But they are a pain to set up. People whose VCRs blinked “12:00″ all through the 90s wouldn’t stand a chance.

Lastly, there is the matter of spam. Both by email and by fax, spam is illegal. That said, spam by fax can be enforced, because you can always trace it back. You cannot transmit a virus to a fax machine, and so no botnets of faxes.

So as you can see, I don’t agree that the fax machine is done. Endangered, sure, but hardly done.