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Information about 3d Fax

3D Fax was an early Windows program from InfoImaging Technologies. It allowed binary files to be transmitted via fax. Basically, the software encoded the file into a printed image that was sent to the recipient's fax machine. The image was scanned into the receiving computer and 3D Fax decoded it back to its original binary form.

Its functionality was limited. Although being able to send a binary file via fax is a novel idea, it has three main problems:
  • First, the size of the binary file is limited to what is possible to encode on a letter-sized piece of paper, so sending anything over 50 kb would require many sheets of paper to print, fax, and scan.
  • The second problem is that the sending party requires an adequate printer and a fax machine or fax-modem, and the receiving party requires a scanner and fax (although a fax-modem on both sides would eliminate the printer and scanner requirements). Both also need access to a phone line, to send their fax.
  • Finally, most binary files need 100% reliability on the transport. If the binary file is an executable, for example, it needs to be decoded perfectly by the receiving party, or the file simply won't work. This is usually impossible with normal fax transmissions, since they normally have noise and are not 100% copies of the originals. Adding a scan to the process only worsens matters.
The advent of an almost ubiquitous Internet, along with email, made the limited usefulness of this software obsolete.
Microsoft Windows

Screenshot of Windows Vista Ultimate, the latest version of Microsoft Windows.
Company/developer: Microsoft Corporation
OS family: MS-DOS/9x-based, Windows CE, Windows NT
Source model: Closed source

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binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text.
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Fax (short for facsimile, from Latin fac simile, "make similar", i.e. "make a copy") is a telecommunications technology used to transfer copies (facsimiles) of documents, especially using affordable devices operating over the telephone network.
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Scan may refer to:
  • Scan, the act of examining sequentially, part by part
  • Image scanning, in data processing, the act of optically analyzing a two or three dimensional image and digitally encode it (digitize it) for storage in a computer file

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executable or executable file, in computer science, is a file whose contents are meant to be interpreted as a program by a computer.

While a file in source form may be executable, such a file is usually referred to as a "script.
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Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government
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E-mail (short for electronic mail; often also abbreviated as e-mail, email or simply mail) is a store and forward method of composing, sending, storing, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems.
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Herod_Archelaus


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