Facsimile, Where For Art Thou?

Scottish inventor Alexander Bain is credited with inventing the first technology to send an image over a wire in 1843. The text-only image projected to and from a cylinder and was of very poor quality. Giovanni Caselli's "Pantelegraph" was an early precursor to the fax machine for transmitting images over telegraph lines and the first device that could send handwriting, signatures, and drawings during the 1860s. Pantelegraph translates into a combination of “pantograph” (a machine used to copy drawings and words) and “telegraph” (a system for transmitting messages over long-distance wires). Not to be outdone, British inventor Shelford Bidwell, developed the “Scanning Phototelegraph” in 1881 that was the first machine to replicate two-dimensional images, unlike Bain’s, that made the facsimile transmissions viable for commercial use. The fax machine kept getting smaller (above) but it was not until 1948 when the first fax machine could comfortably fit onto the top of a normal desk. Produced by Western Union, their new “Desk Fax” model signaled the beginning of widespread adoption of faxing technology. 

Online usage has not diminished the fax machine in the corporate world as a multi-functional tool thanks to current technology. And, unlike sending sensitive information online, it is hack-proof.