Days in the Life of Mo

Okay, let’s be honest: when was the last time you actually saw a fax machine? Not in a retro movie, not in your grandma’s attic; but in a real office, being used by actual humans? Exactly. And yet, these clunky boxes from the 80s are still alive and kicking in 2025. But… why?

Fax machines are the tech version of that one guest who overstays their welcome at a party. Everyone’s too polite (or too stuck in their ways) to ask them to leave.

The big flaws nobody talks about anymore

Fax machines were once revolutionary, sending documents over phone lines before email existed was mind-blowing. But fast-forward to today, and their weaknesses are basically screaming at us:

• That smudgy, half-legible blur you get from a fax? Yeah, that’s as good as it gets. No AI upscaling here.
• Despite the myth that faxes are “secure,” they’re really not. A 2018 Check Point Research study showed hackers could infiltrate entire corporate networks just by sending a malicious fax. Yikes.
• Printing, scanning, paper jams, more printing. Environmentalists are crying somewhere.
• In an era where I can send an email across the globe in seconds, faxes are basically sending smoke signals with extra steps.

But why are they still around?

Here’s the plot twist: some industries can’t quit. Healthcare, legal, and government agencies are still fax-addicted. Why? Regulations. For example, the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) still allows faxing as a “secure” way to transmit patient records. And Japan? In 2021, government offices were still relying on faxes until public outcry pushed them to modernize.

It’s not that anyone likes faxing. It’s that systems, laws, and “we’ve always done it this way” culture are hard to untangle. It’s a kind of digital inertia, and fax machines are the unfortunate beneficiaries.

So let me ask you this: in a world where I can FaceTime a friend across the planet while ordering pizza and doomscrolling Twitter at the same time, why are we still pressing “send” on machines that scream like a dying robot and spit out paper at 3 pages per minute?

What it says about tech adoption

The persistence of fax machines is less about the machines themselves and more about how humans adopt (or resist) new tech. We hold on to what feels safe, familiar, and legally acceptable; even if it’s deeply inconvenient. Which makes me wonder… what tech today will we stubbornly cling to in 20 years, while Gen Alpha rolls their eyes? (I vote WhatsApp voice notes.)

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