[pip08456]

Originally Posted by Chris

Fax machines.

A single example, but an indicator of wider cultural resistance to new and more efficient ways of working. As recently as 5 years ago the NHS was reckoned to be the single biggest purchaser of fax machines in the entire world. It took a government directive in 2019 to forcibly stop the purchase of new (!) fax machines in England and several hundred are still in operation.

The delightfully unreformed Welsh version of the Labour Party is still allowing their purchase and use in NHS Wales.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/h...g-fax-22899228

They'll not be able to use them soon.

For 20 years, the fax machine’s beeping, static-strewn screech was the sound of the future. But the pace of technology is pitiless: like carrier pigeons, portable cassette players and videocassette recorders, the fax machine is finally an official relic of the past.

The death sentence was handed down on Tuesday in the form of Ofcom’s announcement that it was minded to back the government’s decision to remove the requirement for fax services under the Universal Service Order (USO) legislation. These are the rules that ensure phone services are available to people across the UK at an affordable price.

As ubiquitous as fax machines were in the 1980s and 90s, their obsolescence comes amid the industry-led migration from the public switched telephone network to all-internet protocol (IP) telephony, which means that fax machines will no longer work in the same way.

Ofcom’s move comes after the government amended the Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003 to remove facsimile services from the USO from 1 October 2022.

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...-office-staple