I’ve told this story in person to a few people today, and every time I have done so, I have had to explain what SlyDial is, so let me start there. SlyDial is a service that is provided by MobileSphere in Boston, and it works like this: First, you call their number. They play an advertisement to you to pay for the service you are about to receive. Next, they prompt you for the phone number of a mobile phone. You punch this in, and they will then take you right to that person’s voicemail box, all without ringing that person’s telephone. It’s a pretty cool service, actually, and a great way to deliver low-priority messages without disturbing the recipient.

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.