New Type of Mail Set to Revolutionise
Communication
Scientists
working in Cambridge University’s recently developed Centre of Communication
Advancement facility claim to have completed research on a
brand new medium set to revolutionise the
way we communicate.
Codenamed project FAX, the research is the result of a decade of dedicated
advanced research in microelectronics. “The new medium is based on cutting
edge technology which builds upon recent telephone
breakthroughs” lead scientist Col. Easton-Willis (Ret.) said. The
technology is understood to harness the power of the telephone and fuse it
with the geographical advantages provided by the mail service. “Essentially,
what you have here is the ability to send a letter [without physically
sending it]” Easton-Willis remarked abruptly.
It has been said that the new type of electronic letter service will deliver
a letter sent via phone lines, creating a
disintermediation of the postman. Preliminary tests made last
year yielded the first ever fax being sent from the CCA facility to a
research station in the
Shetland Islands (below left).
Critics are already pointing out that despite the
technology having undoubtedly massive future potential, its usage will be
restricted to the domains of the rich and powerful. The chairman of
communications firm British Dog and Bone plc, Sir Charles Bangston admitted
that for the time being prices may prove
prohibitive.
“The cost of sending letters using your phone will initially be very high,”
Sir Bangston said. Owing to the huge cost of putting the strings and wires
in the houses of users, telephones are currently retailing for as much as
£1,500, with telephone calling costing around £45
per call. FAX telephones may initially retail at double this or
more; it’s uptake initially likely to be instigated by government agencies
and people who want to pay their phone bills by FAX.
Sir Bangston is was also keen to talk up the advantages of the new
communication. "A letter which would usually take a few days to deliver can
now be sent in a matter of hours" he
enthused.
The technology is not yet perfect, with minor defects still to be ironed
out. In some cases, tiny guard dogs are said to electronically compliment a
sent fax, reminiscent of the traditional image of dogs chasing forlorn
postmen up the garden path. The electronic dog’s bite is worse than its
bark, however, delivering an often fatal discharge
of 20,000 volts to the recipient along with a singed and smoking
letter.
Recent experiments involving an attempt to “FAX” physical objects to another
telephone early last year led to failure, when scientists
attempted to send pizza slices electronically.
The experiment disappointed scientists by sending only a copy image of the
smeared grease marks, but the theory may in time pave the way for next
generation FAX teleporters, already dubbed “EMAIL”.