I think the death knell for the fax machine alleged by Jonathan Coopersmith ’78 (Princetonians, July 8) is a bit premature. Those of us in the medical field use our faxes frequently to convey sensitive and private information, as it is not hackable like email. No need to password-protect!
I personally also use my fax for financial and legal purposes on a not-infrequent basis. The safety and security of the fax is unmatched even versus snail mail, which can be stolen or lost. My local newspaper has a weekly sudoku contest and the results can only be mailed or faxed in, so I fax weekly for that. I rarely go more than a day or two without faxing. Friends and colleagues also use their faxes frequently.
And no, I’m no technological Luddite. I use my laptop, smartphone, and tablet on a near-constant basis. This reminds me of the premature funeral for the PC, which is well and thriving. Just because a technology is old does not mean it’s useless or has been supplanted by something better. The frequent online-data breaches have certainly taught us that.