Fax: Specs and projections

The fax broadcasting venture of the '30s and the '40s (described in detail by Daniel M. Costigan in the accompanying article) was but one of the many faces facsimile communication has shown in its long and somewhat capricious history. It assumed its present role as a standard business communications tool in 1962, with the official opening of the telephone dial network (via appropriate interfaces) to customer-provided fax terminals. It has matured steadily in this latest role, finally achieving status as an industry in its own right.