The Failure of Fax: When a Vision Is Not Enough

The question should be: In view of the dismal history of failures, why did so many people and companies press ahead?

Abstract

In the last decade, fax machines have revolutionized communications. We have become used to and dependent upon instantaneous information. Many people cannot conceive how they worked without a fax machine. The question, however, arises: If the concept is so good, why did nearly a century and a half elapse from the first patent in 1843 until rapid commercial diffusion in the 1980s? In actuality, attempts to commercialize facsimile technology extend back to the 1860s [5]. Its promoterspanned the spectrum from individual inventors, such as Thomas Edison and Arthur Korn, to massive corporations, such as Xerox and AT&T. Their most common feature until the mid-1980s was failure. The few successes occurred not in general communications but in dedicated niche markets and, even here, failures flourished. Perhaps the question should be: In view of the dismal history of failures, why did so many people and companies press ahead? What motivated individuals and ill-ms to commit resources to create new markets and technology, given the daunting history that lay behind