Do you still Fax and/or Dial Up if so, why?

[GlitchyZorua]

I noticed that there were options to set up dial up on windows and that makes me wonder if people on this forum still use dial up, or fax modems... (aside from revival projects), if so, why? And perhaps show us a photo of it after you are done explaining why! :O

[nobo]

I've never used a fax machine but I've often heard people say that using fax machines is very common at Japanese companies even today.

Here are three articles about this topic from 2012 to 2024:


https://www.tokyoweekender.com/japan-life/things-still-being-used-in-japan/
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19045837
https://medium.com/@JapanUnveiled/the-surprising-reality-of-japans-fax-culture-how-lagging-digitalization-leads-to-inefficiency-b42dfcec0c39

[brisray]

Going retro is popular. There are a group of people who find and get old computers working again. Some install old versions of Windows on them or even on newer computers.

Your post made me think of my first home computer and using dial up. My old 8086 Amstrad 1640 in 1986 was a good PC at the time but I can't imagine how slow it would be today. It used DOS but GEM by Digital Research could be enabled. I got the one without a hard drive but bought a 32Mb one shortly after that cost almost as much as the computer.

Dial up was astoundingly slow. 40 years ago it was exciting visiting other people's websites and downloading things but that could take literally days, and if the connection was dropped had to be started over. It was far easier to order shareware disks using snail mail or get stuff from the free disks magazines had - I've still got some of those. Going back to dial up would be horrible.

My fifteen year old Epson Artisan 810 printer has fax built into it, but I've never used it. The cost of ink for it is outrageous, the control buttons do not appear on Windows 11 so finding them is guesswork, and the cats have broken bits off of it but it's still going strong so won't be replaced yet.

Businesses and healthcare companies still use fax. Some time ago I asked my doctor why he still uses it and it's because it is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant and leaves an audit trail. Email can do it, but is harder to configure properly.

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

I sometimes have to use Fax at work. German law treats faxes basically like letters, while E-Mails are not fully legally valid - so, especially when dealing with governmental institutions (and people who managed to nearly elapse a deadline), Faxes are sometimes the only mean to save the day  .

Didn't use a dial in for decades, though.

[GlitchyZorua]

I sometimes have to use Fax at work. German law treats faxes basically like letters, while E-Mails are not fully legally valid - so, especially when dealing with governmental institutions (and people who managed to nearly elapse a deadline), Faxes are sometimes the only mean to save the day  .

Didn't use a dial in for decades, though.

It just works!

I guess your country is still living in the 90's, thats pretty cool! :)

I unironically want to get a fax machine, publicly share the phone number online (ofc, not my personal phone number, i'm not stupid lol) just to see what happens!

[crazyroostereye]

I have digital Fax enabled on my Router, it allows me to send and receive Fax without actually owning a Printer or Fax Machine. It sends me a PDF via Email instead.

I rarely use it, but on occasion there are things with the Government that only can happen via Mail (not email) or Fax. And Fax is faster. An example are contracts and Documents requiring a Hand signature, and PDF+Email is not a legal way to transfer it.

EDIT:

German law treats faxes basically like letters, while E-Mails are not fully legally valid

Isn't DE-mail, the abomination that it is, allowed to that?

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

Isn't DE-mail, the abomination that it is, allowed to that?

It is, but I never had it. Just checked, and apparently there is only one provider left - who takes ~0.40€ per Mail. Fax is cheaper.
Great indeed! 

[TheDuke_11037]

From my knowledge people in more remote areas still use dial-up. There's certain regions where the companies don't want to set up the things needed to use wifi normally. Usually low-populated secluded places as I said. Then ofc there's communities of people who just use it mostly for nostalgia or something along those lines.

[petrichoran]

some companies offer 10 free hours of dial up per month! some people living in the country where wifi is difficult to obtain take advantage of that if they don't use the internet very much. it makes sense to save that money if you can get by with doing so, and a lot of people in those areas are low income.

[grubbyfox]

Last time I faxed something was probably around 2011-2013. We used to fax confirmation papers sometimes at work, as it was easier than getting a file off email, printing, confirming, scanning, and sending it back.

Usually the fax would come in from a client/customer, we'd confirm that the information on their end was the same as ours (or make adjustments) and just write "confirmed" etc on the paper, and then just send it back. So fast and easy.