Victorian Fax?
November 29, 2004 11:54 PM Subscribe
I love the idea of replicating that machinery and making images with it . Tinkering art. Great post.
posted by Rumple at 12:35 AM on November 30, 2004
posted by Rumple at 12:35 AM on November 30, 2004
Those of you who find this kind of stuff fascinating (as I do) will probably enjoy this 1930s filmreel that demonstrates how pictures were transmitted via wire prior to modern faxes.
posted by neckro23 at 1:55 AM on November 30, 2004
posted by neckro23 at 1:55 AM on November 30, 2004
Monty Burns to Smithers: "Put this on that Faxtrola!"
posted by fixedgear at 5:59 AM on November 30, 2004
posted by fixedgear at 5:59 AM on November 30, 2004
Excellent post! And I want to know why we didn't keep calling it a "telediagraph"; it's so much more impressive than "fax."
posted by languagehat at 8:49 AM on November 30, 2004
posted by languagehat at 8:49 AM on November 30, 2004
They demonstrated something similar on the show "The Secret Life of Machines", which you can sometimes catch in reruns.
Here's a little comic they made that explains how it works:
The Secret Life of the Fax Machine
posted by o0o0o at 9:15 AM on November 30, 2004
Here's a little comic they made that explains how it works:
The Secret Life of the Fax Machine
posted by o0o0o at 9:15 AM on November 30, 2004
I was about to mention "The Secret Life of Machines" episode. I thought they also mentioned (although it's been a long time since I saw it) something about monks using some mechanical arm thing to do something similar much earlier.
o0o0o, do you remember anything about that?
posted by Human Stain at 9:30 AM on November 30, 2004
o0o0o, do you remember anything about that?
posted by Human Stain at 9:30 AM on November 30, 2004
I too was about to mention Tim Hunkin's The Secret Life of Machines which was part of a post awhile back.
posted by euphorb at 9:38 AM on November 30, 2004
posted by euphorb at 9:38 AM on November 30, 2004
Human Stain, I don't recall monks being mentioned in that episode, but I'm rather sure they were during the photo copier episode.
I found a full Episode Guide but it's unfortunately rather skimpy on the details.
There's also some stills from each episode that might help jar your memory... though it didn't help mine.
posted by o0o0o at 10:21 AM on November 30, 2004
I found a full Episode Guide but it's unfortunately rather skimpy on the details.
There's also some stills from each episode that might help jar your memory... though it didn't help mine.
posted by o0o0o at 10:21 AM on November 30, 2004
Hmm, the pantograph could be it. Or, it could have been a side effect of what I'm referring to here.
posted by Human Stain at 11:46 AM on November 30, 2004
posted by Human Stain at 11:46 AM on November 30, 2004
Wow. Nifty indeed.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:50 AM on November 30, 2004
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:50 AM on November 30, 2004
Very cool. Yet another reason why I love MetaFilter.
posted by horhey at 12:33 AM on December 2, 2004
posted by horhey at 12:33 AM on December 2, 2004
But the big question is, how long did it take for the first unsolicited menu to be sent via this grandaddy o' the fax machine?
posted by drew at 11:44 AM on December 2, 2004
posted by drew at 11:44 AM on December 2, 2004
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posted by Pretty_Generic at 12:15 AM on November 30, 2004