Fax (팩스, 传真, ファックス)

Today, on the eve of my 33rd birthday (beginning of my mid-thirties, I guess), I take you back in time to when faxes ruled the earth (at least in the communication space) and were around even before I was born. In fact, it was in the 1980's that faxes really became big, thanks to the advent of color faxing high-level technology and resolution faxing, started by the Japanese by a company called NTT, and computer-based faxing. In fact, faxes were the hero in an attempted terrorist plot against the U.S. of kidnapping the United States President and Air Force One, where the terrorists disabled the telephone lines aboard the plane but neglected to disable the fax line, allowing the ex-air force pilot President to send a fax to the White House foiling the terrorists' plot. Of course this was a fictional movie called "Air Force One" and the President was played by Harrison Ford, but it does show that faxes were a prominent part of popular media and culture at the tail end of the Twentieth Century. 

Pretty much by the time I started using phones and coming of age, though, faxes went out of style and were replaced by new technology, and I never really used faxes, let alone mastered their function. However, Covid-19 must have damaged most of our telecommunications systems and set us back technologically a few decades, because the California EDD (Employment Development Department) is only accepting faxes as the way for people to send in their unemployment applications. Or this is just inefficiency and antiquated methods used by them, either one. It's almost unfathomable that a system accepting millions of applications (number of eligible unemployed people in CA right now) would be using facsimile and only facsimile (for certain applications where I worked out of state the year before). The thing with the fax is, it's a clumsier and clunkier version of email. First the recipient has to establish a fax phone number, then the sender has to have a fax machine or printer/fax machine hybrid system, then they have to have the physical copy of the document and feed it in to the fax machine, call the recipient on their number, and it has to connect. I don't know how many times I tried to connect using my apartment's fax number this week but it can't being interrupted! So finally I was forced to go to UPS to use their fax machine. Meanwhile all phones now have scanning and picture capabilities that can process 10 pages of an application within 1 minute and send through email. 

This recent Fax Fiasco of 2020 (what I'm dubbing it) reminds me that although everyone in my circle of acquaintances seem to have the latest technology and social media and know all the new trendy TikTok videos or viral sensations or new shows to watch on Netflix, there is still a significant portion of the population that does not engage in these hot new things (especially older people), and the gap is widening. Watching Survivor reminds me that there are still people stuck in the 1990's watching the 3 main TV channels of CBS, NBC, and ABC, maybe sprinkle in a little Fox and PBS. Heck, lawyers still appear personally in front of a judge (not necessary), the DMV forces people to line up (the horror!), and people have to register beforehand using thick registration files and show up to polling places to vote. Looking out even further, as of 2017, not even half of he world has internet access. It's the developed nations that are focused in on all the new smartphones and addicted to screens, but there's actually still a pretty significant portion of the world that doesn't delve into any of that, still living naturally through farming and tribal communities. Maybe you don't have to have technology to live and live happily, ever all. But I do know that once you get the technology, you want to keep having it (we're hooked). 

It also reminds me that despite all the people on social media screaming about certain social issues or urging people to act a certain away about Covid-19 or telling me how to feel about Joe Biden's sexual harassment allegations or Ahmaud Aubry shooting (a really sad tragedy of a young black man shot by 2 white men while out jogging), there is a large portion of the country and world not yelling out their opinions, and it's important not to let loud, passionate voices have too strong of an influence, and have perspective, consider all opinions, try to understand it from various angles. Especially in this time of health and economic crisis, I think it's important to step back and be totally consumed by all the information and opinions...maybe just be nice to each other for a start, and hope that the virus is contained and defeated sooner rather than later. That is my wish for my birthday. And of course to lose 5 pounds. 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan