The History and Development of the Fax Machine

Fax technology, which makes it possible to quickly transmit copies of documents and letters over long distances, appeared even before the telephone. It was introduced in 1843 by Scottish inventor Alexander Bain.

Just two years later, in 1845, Giovanni Caselli established the first commercial fax communication system between Lyon and Paris.

An optical fax system based on scanning technology was developed in 1902 by German scientist Arthur Korn. This led to the creation of a photo transmission service for newspapers.

As more manufacturers entered the field, fax machines gradually became simpler in design. At that time, transmitting a single page typically took around 4–6 minutes.

Later, new standards were developed by the Telecommunications Standardization Sector and were widely adopted by fax manufacturers.

In the 1990s, the spread of the internet and the growing use of email led international organizations and private companies to shift toward digital communication.

As a result, demand for fax machines gradually declined.