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FACSIMILE MACHINES

Can you imagine putting a piece of paper into a copy machine and having the copy turn up in an office halfway around the world? That is what facsimile (fax) machines do. A one-page letter can be sent coast-to-coast in 20 to 30 seconds for about 30 cents. This is probably the fastest-growing communications innovation in industry today. These machines enable you to send a letter or longer document to someone and have that person receive it immediately. They can also act as desktop copiers.

There are portable fax machines available for your car. PayFAX machines are like phone stations that hang on the wall You use a PayFAX like a pay phone from 20,000 units in cities around the world. A recent twist in fax technology is fax-back. Callers simply indicate what information they want from a company - a sales brochure, for example - by pushing keys on their phones. They then key in their fax numbers, and the data is on its way.

In 1990. Star Signal introduced the first fax machine that can send full-colour pictures. The next generation of fax machines is expected to be the cordless fax. Like the wireless computer, the cordless fax will use radio waves.

Fax modems are modems that allow you to send messages from your computer to other peoples fax machines. Most people find it easier to use a stand-alone fax machine, however. The most limiting feature of a fax modem is that you can only send data you have on file in your computer. If you want to send a printed document that is not on your computer using a fax modem, you must either enter the data by hand by keying it in from the keyboard or by scanning the document with an optical scanner (a device that translates printed material so a computer can understand and manipulate it).

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ELECTRONIC MAIL (E-MAIL)

Electronic mail is a means of sending and receiving messages-internally, nationally, or internationally.

Subscribers to e-mail need a terminal, such as personal computer, a telephone line, and a modem, which is a device for converting signals to text. Messages appear on the receiver's computer screen. E-mail users can also have access to a mailbox, which they can call from anywhere in the world and retrieve messages. They receive a mailbox number and a password for confidentially. Messages can be printed out and kept for reference.

In comparison with telex, e-mail is relatively low in cost, and does not require a trained operator. It is also fast, relatively reliable, and messages can be sent or picked up anywhere in the world, and stored in the mailbox until they are retrieved.

This can be particularly advantageous for users who are communicating across international time zones.

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TELEX

Telegrams and cables can be sent at any time and from any post office. This means of communication is available for twenty hours a day, but between sending a message and its arrival there can be short delay. Telex is as direct as using the phone.

The telex is a machine like a typewriter but the difference is that it has a dial on its casting. You can send messages by dialing the receiver's number or by asking the operator at the exchange to connect you. An answerback code will appear on the teleprinter indicating that the sender is through as soon as the operator has dialed the code. The message is typed and will appear on the receiver's machine.

Besides the advantages of sending a cable, telex is available right in the office, you needn't go to the post office. It offers a direct line with immediate reply.

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Internet

The best way to think of the Internet, or Net as it is often called, is a vast global network of networks connecting computers across the world. At present, more than 33 million people use Internet and over three million computers worldwide are linked in. They use the Net for transferring data, playing games, socializing with other computer users, and sending e-mail.

The Net was dreamt up in the late 1960s by the US Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency which decided that it needed a means by which messages could be sent and received even if phone lines were inoperative. In 1969, there was a network of just four computers. By 1972 the number had risen to 40. About this time the idea of electronic mailbox was born. By 1984 the Internet began to develop into the form we know it today.

The Internet can be divided into five broad areas.

Electronic mail , which is much faster than traditional mail. Anything that can be digitized (converted into digital form) - pictures, sound, video - can be sent, retrieved, and printed at the other end.

Information sites. This is perhaps the fastest growing area of the Internet as more and more people put their own information pages on line. Computers process vast amounts of information very fast, by specifying a key word or phrase. The computer can then search around the Net until it finds some matches. These information sites are usually stored on big computers that exist all over the world. The beauty of the Net is that you can access all of them from your home, using your own PC.

The World Wide Web, usually referred to as WWW or 3W, is a vast network of information databases that feature text, sound, and even video clips. On the WWW you can go on a tour of a museum or exhibition, see the latest images from outer space, go shopping, and get travel information on hotels and holidays.

Usenet is a collection of newsgroups covering any topic. Each newsgroup consists of messages and information posted by other users. There are more than 10,000 newsgroups and they are popular with universities and businesses.

Telnet programs allow you to use your personal computer to access a powerful mainframe computer.

The Internet

The Internet, a global computer network which embraces millions of users all over the world, began in the United States in 1969 as a mil­itary experiment. It was designed to survive a nuclear war. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest path available from one com­puter to another. Because of this, any two computers on the Internet will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them. This technology is called packet swithing. Owing to this technology, if some computers on the network are knocked out (by a nuclear explosion, for example), information will just route around them. One such packet swithing network which has already survived a war is the Iraqi computer network which was not knocked out during the Gulf War.

Most of the Internet host computers (more than 50 %) are in the United States, while the rest are located in more than 100 other coun­tries. Although the number of host computers can be counted fairly accurately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet, there are millions worldwide, and their number is growing by thou­sands each month.

The most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. However, other popular ser\ ices are avail­able on the Internet: reading USENET News, using the World-Wide Web, telnet, FTP, and Gopher.

In many developing countries the Internet may provide business­men with a reliable alternative to the expensive and unreliable telecom­munications systems of these countries. Commercial users can com­municate cheaply over the internet with the rest of the world. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers, not for calls across their countries or around the world. But who actually pays for sending e-mail messages over the Internet long distances, around the world? The answer is very simple: users pay their service provider a monthly or hourly fee. Part of this fee goes towards its costs to connect to a larger service provider, and part of the fee received by the larger provider goes to cover its cost of running a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations.

But saving money is only the first step. If people sec that they can make money from the Internet, commercial use of this network will drastically increase. For example, some western architecture compa­nies and garment centers already transmit their basic designs and con­cepts over the Internet into China, where they are reworked and refined by skilled — but inexpensive — Chinese computer-aided-design spe­cialists.

However, some problems remain. The most important is security. When you send an e-mail message to somebody, this message can travel through many different networks and computers. The data is constantly being directed towards its destination by special comput­ers called routers. However, because of this, it is possible to get into any of the computers along the route, intercept and even change the data being sent over the Internet. In spite of the fact that there are many good encoding programs available, nearly all the information being sent over the Internet is transmitted without any form of encod­ing, i.e. "in the clear". But when it becomes necessary to send impor­tant information over the network, these encoding programs may be useful. Some American banks and companies even conduct transac­tions over the Internet. However, there are still both commercial and technical problems which will take time to be resolved.

Travelling

(the best way to travel)

There is no simple answer to the question, “Which is the best way to travel?” It depends on several factors: the distance, the available, what you can afford and so on. Air travel has advantages , in the case of long distance journeys. No other means of transport is a fast. It can be expensive, of course. Some disadvantages of air travel are the difficulty of getting to the airport, long wait to check in, and an even longer wait if your flight is delayed because of bad weather.

Sea voyages were much to most common form of long distance travel. However, for some people, the slow pace of large ships makes them particularly attractive and popular for certain kinds of holidays, such as cruises. Ferries can offer a cheaper and more convenient way of travelling to an island than flying.

Trains are ideal for shorter overland journeys. Unlike airports, stations are generally located in city centres , making it easier for people to get to them. This is especially useful for sightseers and also makes rail transport the most convenient way for many people to get to work. In many countries trains are a very economic way of travelling.

For local travel there are buses (or, in some places, trams, which are returning to our streets after decades). Travelling by coach may be almost as fast as rail transport, since they use the motorway , and a lot cheaper.

The most popular form of transport for daily use is the private car. However, we still continue to use it for the shortest trip to the local, supermarket as well as for long trans-European journeys. Because of poor public transport in many smaller towns we often find the car the most convenient way of travelling. For longer journeys the car is slow, uncomfortable and tiring but it permits you to carry more luggage and to travel when you wish.

Many people are campaigning for a return to the bicycle. It is certainly better for your health, is saves you money and it enables you to sweep past traffic jams during and rush hour. You don’t pollute the atmosphere, damage people’s health or the ozone layer. Cycling is an ideal way , too, of enjoying the countryside.