Re: [hylafax-users] Native PCL faxing?!

[Frank Peters <frank.peters@comcast.net>]

On Thu, 17 Apr 2003 11:48:06 -0700
Lee Howard <faxguy@howardsilvan.com> wrote:

> 
> In EXTREMELY rare circumstances (Microsoft Fax is one of them) 
> documents can be sent with the "BF" (File Transfer) and/or NSF 
> (non-standard functions) protocol in T.30... which, depending on the 
> application, would allow other filetypes to be sent (i.e., ASCII text, 
> PostScript, and possibly PCL).  HylaFAX doesn't support BF or NSF 
> (other than decoding the frames).
> 

Why use the fax protocol to send general documents?

Facsimile transmission is already a very obsolete technology,
but in spite of its backwardness, it remains a flourishing
industry.  Production and sales of new fax machines will
probably be quite stable for the foreseeable future.

Why would anyone still want to fax a document when the Internet
allows free and more reliable methods with higher quality?

A scanned black and white image, for example, can be compressed
with JBIG compression techniques to a level that surpasses both
TIFF G3 and G4.  The same document can be sent via TCP/IP
over the global Net to anywhere without cost (minus the monthly
fee, of course).

But the technical literacy of most users is not sufficient to 
allow the widespread adoption of digital scanning.  Thus the
antiquated fax remains.

HylaFAX certainly fills the great need of having to deal with
people and organizations who are still stuck in the 1980's.

Frank Peters

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