what is it about fax technology that i can't just program my phone to send a fax? what are fax machines doing that i can't emulate in software???
Ask HN: Why can't I send faxes from my phone?
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Re: Ask HN: Why can't I send faxes from my phone?
#2Newspapers have used it since the 1800's in one for or another. Wire-Photo https://antique-photos.com/en/helpful-info/476-wire-photos.h... This is a relic of the old Muirhead rotary scanning fax machines abd the same standard persists. This is hard to do via radio. So radios send a pdf to a fax service. I have a fax service for $10 a month, I send it via desktop or mobile, and receive the same way as a pdf. With a mobile printer or office printer you get hard copy. https://www.myfax.com/features
Re: Ask HN: Why can't I send faxes from my phone?
#3Re: Ask HN: Why can't I send faxes from my phone?
#4Re: Ask HN: Why can't I send faxes from my phone?
#5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phone_Company
The fact that it costs you so much probably just means that the demand just isn't there.
Re: Ask HN: Why can't I send faxes from my phone?
#6Re: Ask HN: Why can't I send faxes from my phone?
#7The lossy compression on phone calls might prevent fax from working. Also, I don't know if you can route call audio from anywhere other than the microphone.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fax
My Palm Pilot (with a CDPD backpack) and candybar 2G Nokia could both send FAXes.
I suspect there's no demand.
Re: Ask HN: Why can't I send faxes from my phone?
#8So if you can write an app that accesses this API, you can send faxes. It would be easiest to do this as a web service that you can access from your phone via a web page.
Re: Ask HN: Why can't I send faxes from my phone?
#9The lossy compression on phone calls might prevent fax from working. Also, I don't know if you can route call audio from anywhere other than the microphone.
HQ audio quality (over 4G) is markedly better than land lines, and the fax protocol has had error correction since digital formats were adopted in the 60s and 70s. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fax My Palm Pilot (with a CDPD backpack) and candybar 2G Nokia could both send FAXes. I suspect there's no demand.