Use Fax Machine As Printer! Put That Old Dial-Up Modem To Use!
Originally recorded May 11, 2013.
Someone gave me something I have been looking for! A THERMAL fax machine.
See, nobody liked thermal fax machines because of the paper. The paper felt strange, smelled strange, and always curled. In addition, thermal paper, as you likely know from most of the receipts you get, fades easily.
It was once common practice to make a photocopy of a fax received to ensure that the printing would last. However, this created a higher cost since in addition to the price of the thermal paper, regular paper and toner (not to mention electricity) would be used. Most of the time this was done since everyone hated thermal paper.
But thermal printing is still excellent for transient documents. Something that you need for a short period of time, then discard.
I once received a thermal printout of a wedding registry on 8½" paper and thought it was an excellent idea. There are thermal printers out there that will print on that size paper, but they are expensive. Also, people still hate thermal paper.
Fax machine manufacturers realized that they could use a thermal transfer printing process, which would eliminate the thermal paper. Everyone was thrilled at the advent of a plain-paper fax, but they absolutely raped you on these cartridges.
It's time to put your old dial-up modem back in service! This is still a manual process (unless you have a spare phone line and want to use it as such). If you use the same line and connect direct to the fax machine as I did, you will have to change your modem properties to not wait for dial tone.