Networks considered harmful/Re: USENIX board studies UUCP

[Peter da Silva]

In article <106 at van-bc.UUCP> sl at van-bc.UUCP (Stuart Lynne) writes:
> First anything you do shouldn't disenfranchise the existing successful base
> that is using fax technology. Your new protocol should be able to send
> "email" to a fax machine and receive and print a fax from a fax machine. 

I disagree. The main consideration should be to avoid disenfranchising the
people currently using existing email systems. This should be something
that someone with a PC and a $100 modem can hook into. This isn't intended
to be an enhancement to FAX, but an enhancement to email: UUCP, SMTP,
MCI-Mail, Compuserve, and so on.

> Of course this implies that you'll need a V.29 modem and be able to support
> the T.30 protocols.

Which is why it's pretty much out of the question. These are relatively
expensive modems and definitely complex protocols. This is out of reach
of the majority of people who currently use email: individual computer
hobbyists with PCs.

And the end product can be built a LOT cheaper. An IBM-PC clone with a
1200 baud internal modem is in the few hundred dollar range. And then
there are all the people with Commodore-64s. You're talking a complete
system that costs less than a FAX modem alone.
-- 
`-_-' Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. <peter at ficc.uu.net>.
 'U`  Also <peter at ficc.lonestar.org> or <peter at sugar.lonestar.org>.
"It was just dumb luck that Unix managed to break through the Stupidity Barrier
and become popular in spite of its inherent elegance." -- gavin at krypton.sgi.com