What old technology are you surprised is still in use today?
What old technology are you surprised is still in use today?
Original question by @TheImpressiveX@lemmy.today
You're viewing a single thread.
Fax machines!
They were invented long before the computer or modem, with the original patent being issued in 1843.
They seem wildly outdated, but the ability to replicate the signature (iirc) led to faxes being accepted as legal documents.
This speaks more to the underlying usefulness in earlier eras, but it's still wild to make a phone call that leads to a printed document.
Faxes are secure after sending. The only way for a third party to get a fax is to physically tap the line at the time of transmission, or to break into the building and steal the paper.
Email sits online, where everyone can get at it unless you prevent it. Faxes sit in a drawer, behind the locks you already have.
At my old government job, we had a fax machine because it "couldn't be hacked", so we would only accept certain documents via fax. Is this true? I have no idea. It was even more questionable when we switched the fax line to digital and received all the faxes via a software program on computers. Is THAT "un-hackable" too? No clue.