Abstract
This is the first historical study of faxing. Like many other communications technologies which appear or are assumed to be relatively new, the book shows that it actually has a much longer pedigree. The fax machine was not in fact original to the steady expansion of computing in the 1980s. The basis of what it involves existed in the 1840s, when a patent for it was first lodged, but despite repeated attempts to market it, these did not meet with anticipated good fortune until the late 20th century, after which, ironically, it quickly suffered from technological obsolescence. Jonathan Coopersmith tells the story of facsimile through its many failures. These stymied its development on the long and winding road to its eventual, short-lived commercial success. Where fax failed, other technologies triumphed because they were cheaper, faster and easier to use. But there remain interesting anomalies to this overall pattern. Digitalization may seem everywhere to have led to the demise of faxing, but this is not true of Japan, where it continues to be popular. We might also note another ironic oddity in the frequency with which online and offline forms ask for a fax number alongside a telephone number although the likelihood of it being used is close to zero (outside of places like Japan). This is a most welcome publication, not only because it breaks new historical ground but also because it does so in an accessible, lucid manner to which appropriate detail is never forfeit. Coopersmith draws extensively on archival data as well as interviews and offers a rewarding account of a quite original technological device.