On the long timeline of long-distance communication technology that starts with the telegraph and leads all the way to the iPhone and beyond, there’s a particular, once-ubiquitous device that seems to have left an indelible mark on the culture while also disappearing nearly completely from it.

This hour, the history and present? (and future??) of the fax machine.

GUESTS:

• Jonathan Coopersmith: Professor of history at Texas A & M University and the author of Faxed: The Rise and Fall of the Fax Machine
• Troy Kreiner: Design director at Use All Five, the firm that organized Artifax
• Kay Savetz: A tech historian; they co-host Antic: The Atari 8-Bit Podcast and run a number of websites, including Fax Toy and FaxZero

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Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, and Lily Tyson contributed to this show, which originally aired May 19, 2022.

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