传真机将在5-10年内寿终正寝？

    “Sweethearts”是美国糖果制造商NECCO生产的一款心形糖果，印在这种糖果上的文字给NECCO带来了很高的知名度。这是一款老产品——问世时间可以追溯到1902年，但印在上面的文字一直都非常实用（今年的内容有“你真诱人”（UR HOT）和“给我发短信（TEXT ME）”）。今年NECCO把“给我发传真”（TAX ME）排除在了该糖果使用的文字之外，这就标志着“发传真”这个短语对社会而言再也没有实用性。但传真机已经过时了吗？

    纯电子化商业交易的普及，和那些传真机造成的著名失误（特别是在体育界），已经让传真的效用受到质疑。市场调研机构高德纳（Gartner）分析师肯•维勒斯坦指出，Box和Google Docs等云服务让人们共享文件变得越来越容易，甚至不需要纸质文件。企业反馈也表明，传真收发量低于前几年的水平。尽管功能单一的传真机已经成为科技领域的老古董（高德纳在五年多之前就已不再跟踪它的销售数据），但也许正是这样久远的历史让它得以留存下来。互联网服务公司j2 Global营销部主任凯尔•弗劳尔斯说：“一大批来自各行各业的人要付出极大的努力才能就新标准达成一致。”j2 Global拥有一项名为eFax 的云服务，它能把收发传真变成用电子邮件收发PDF文件。

    维勒斯坦指出，长期以来，金融、法律和医疗保健等行业一直在使用传真机，而且目前仍在这样做。仍有用户需要集传真、打印、扫描和复印于一身的多功能一体机，2011和2012年，这种一体机的全球发货量为3,700万台。维勒斯坦预计，今后的发货量仍将保持这样的水平。他说：“现在还有很多传真机。在这个领域，减少和消失有着很大的差别。”拥有多功能一体机并不意味着人们会用它来收发传真，但其他服务正在用更具创造性的方法让传真机得到充分利用。像eFax这样基于云技术的传真服务把传统的传真技术和新的移动商业服务结合了起来。在这样一款互联网服务旗舰产品帮助下，用户给j2 Global带来的收入已经超过3.50亿美元（21.73亿元人民币），和2010年相比增长了近40%。

    每年2月份美国大学橄榄球队都要招收新队员，此时传真机也会受到众多媒体的关注。许多高中毕业生都会通过传真提交他们的就读承诺书。作为过去两年的全美大学生橄榄球赛冠军，阿拉巴马大学（University of Alabama）甚至在自己的体育网站上直播接收传真的情况，这样球迷们就能亲眼目睹就读承诺书蜂拥而至的场面（2011年进行直播时，阿拉巴马大学因负责接收传真的女生穿着暴露而遭到投诉）。提交就读承诺书的过程由国家意向书管理机构负责管理，该机构允许高中生通过电子邮件来发送就读承诺书，但许多学校还是选择了传真。国家意向书管理机构负责人苏珊•皮尔说：“我很想让他们远离传真机，但确实有些守旧的教练还是想用传真。”在美国国家橄榄球联盟（NFL），全明星赛防守端锋埃尔维斯•杜默维尔的经纪人未能在联盟规定的最后期限前将他的合同传真给丹佛野马队，这让杜默维尔自动成为自由球员，这名经纪人因此遭到解雇。随后，杜默维尔和NFL卫冕冠军巴尔的摩乌鸦队签约，把自己的突击四分卫技术（还有新经纪人的发传真技术）带到了这支球队。

    Candy manufacturer NECCO is well-known for the messages printed on its heart-shaped Sweethearts candies. Although the product is old -- the candies started back in 1902 -- the messages have stayed remarkably relevant. (Hearts this year featured sayings like "UR HOT" or "TEXT ME.") So when NECCO eliminated "Fax Me" from the lineup of sayings this year, it marked the end of the phrase's social relevance. But is the actual thing close behind?

    A general shift toward e-everything business transactions and well-known fax machine flubs, particularly in the sports world, have drawn the technology's use into question. Cloud services like Box and Google Docs (GOOG) have made it easier for consumers to share files without ever needing a hard copy, and companies are reporting less fax traffic than years past, says Gartner analyst Ken Weilerstein. But while single-function fax machines fall under the category of "tech dinosaur" (Gartner stopped tracking sales more than five years ago), it's this long history that may be keeping the fax machine alive. "It would take a monumental effort by a large group of different people to all agree on a new standard," says Kyle Flowers, Director of Marketing at j2 Global which owns eFax, a cloud product that allows people to send and receive faxes as PDF documents.

    Industries like finance, law, and health care have long used the fax machine and continue to do so today, says Weilerstein. Multi-function devices that couple fax capabilities with printing, scanning, and copying remain in demand, and manufacturers shipped 37 million multi-function devices worldwide in 2011 and 2012, a number Weilerstein expects to stay steady. "There are still plenty of fax machines out there," he says. "Something declining in this particular space doesn't mean disappearing by a long shot." Simply owning a multi-function device doesn't mean that users utilize the fax feature, but other services are using more creative ways to keep fax machines up to speed. Cloud-based fax products like j2 Global's eFax mix traditional fax technology with new mobile-powered business services. With eFax as the company's flagship Internet service, j2 Global's subscriber revenues are up nearly 40% since 2010 to more than $350 million.

    The fax machine also receives an influx of media attention each February on college football's National Signing Day when many high school recruits send in their scholarship commitments using the fax machine. The University of Alabama, which won the National Championship the last two years, even featured a live stream of its fax machine on the school's athletic website so that fans could (literally) watch the commitments pour in. (In 2011, the school received complaints when a scantily clad coed was responsible for collecting all the incoming faxes for the live feed.) The National Letter of Intent program that governs the process allows recruits to submit letters by email, but many schools elect to use the fax machine instead. "I would love for them to get away from the fax machine," says Susan Peal, who manages the National Letter of Intent program. "[But] you do have the old-school coaches who still want to use the fax machine." In the National Football League, Pro Bowl defensive end Elvis Dumervil fired his agent after failing to fax his contract in to the Denver Broncos before the league's deadline, automatically making Dumervil a free agent. He instead signed with the Baltimore Ravens, bringing his pass rushing skills (and his new agent's faxing skills) with him to the defending Super Bowl champions.