Despite the availability of modern and advanced technologies for transferring documents around the world, the fax, a technology developed way back in 1843, continues to persist even today in homes and offices. Considering that this technology is more than a century old, it should now have joined the telegraphs and pagers found in antique shops. Surprisingly, instead of becoming obsolete, fax machines have continued to evolve, adapt and conform to the needs of modern telecommunications. Already in the 80s the fax had established itself as an office work tool and since then it has continued to appear on business cards! Although threatened by much more advanced and preferable technologies such as scanners, printers, and email, the fax continues to dodge extinction by constantly evolving and remaining popular. The Role of the Fax in the History of Communications Alexander Bain, a Scottish mechanic, invented the fax or 'facsimile' in 1843 in Great Britain. Bain patented this technology in 1843. Bain's fax machine used a stylus attached to a pendulum that scanned an image or text onto a metal surface. The machine Bain used was a combination of several clock parts that worked in sync with a telegraph machine. The fax transferred encoded image data over telegraph lines. Evolution of the Fax The first fax used telegraph lines to transmit data. This machine, however, did not gain ground significantly at the time of its inception, and people soon abandoned it due to its cumbersome size and limited usefulness. The invention of the telephone revived the use of fax machines, which then used telephone lines for data transmission. Later, these machines could also transmit data… middle of paper… is – Small businesses stuck with crappy technology, unaware of data laws. The Register, [online]2 November. Available at:< http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/02/just_the_fax_maam/> [Accessed 11 November 2011].Lowthorpe, R., 1999. 1999: The year of Posh and Becks. The Independent, [online]15 December. Available at: < http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/1999-the-year-of-posh-and-becks-743171.html > [Accessed 11 November 2011].Pivar , W.H. & Bruss, R., 2002. California Real Estate Law. Chicago: Dearborn Real Estate.Staffieri, N., 2010. Fax machines are becoming obsolete. Examiner, [online]9 April. Available at: [Accessed 11 November 2011].Vizard, F., 1989. The fact about fax. Popular Mechanics, [online] March. Available at:< http://books.google.com/> [Accessed 11 November 2011].