“Smart Phones Will Eliminate FAX Machine” IDC. (2017). Fax Market Pulse: Trends, Growth and Opportunities. Framingham, MA: IDC. The report is based on survey by IDC to determine the current and future use of fax machines by organizations. Based on the report, 82% of the respondents indicated that fax usage within the organization was expected to remain the same or grow within the next year. Fax is seen as being deep-rooted in majority of the organizations meaning that it is deeply integrated with businesses workflow. The report concludes that the use of fax machines is still a vital communication tool and plays an important role within organizations. Its use is expected to continue even as organizations embrace digital transformation (IDC, 2017). The article does not support the hypothesis that Smart Phones Will Eliminate FAX Machines. Based on the article, fax machines are seen as the preferred communication tool among organizations with the trend expected to continue in future. Crotty, B., & Mostaghimi, A. (2014). Confidentiality in the digital age. BMJ, 348(may09 1), g2943-g2943. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g2943 The article discusses confidentiality and information security within the health care system in view of the emergence of new technologies of communication such as social media, email, cloud computing, and personal technologies. Confidentiality and privacy of data is very essential in health care. The article thus discusses how the new emerging technologies affect the security and confidentiality of data. As part of government regulations, health care organization are required to maintain the privacy of patient information. The article thus proposes ways in which the organizations can ensure that the privacy of the information is maintained. Of note is that personal technologies such as smartphones are considered high risk with poor confidentiality while fax machines are considered low risk with high confidentiality levels. Fax machines will thus continue being used in transmission of sensitive data (Crotty & Mostaghimi, 2014). The article does not support the hypothesis that Smart Phones Will Eliminate FAX Machine. The authors believe that fax machines will still have continued use in future due to the need of confidentiality in communication that is not guaranteed by smartphones. Sarwar, M., & Rahim, T. (2013). Impact of Smartphone’s on Society. European Journal Of Scientific Research, 98(2), 216-226. The article is about smartphones, their capabilities, positive aspects, and negative aspects. The authors describe smartphones as hand held devices that have multiple capabilities such as; taking pictures, chatting, emailing, web access, fax capabilities, playing games and many other capabilities. Due to their many capabilities, smartphones have had an impact on almost all social activities both positively and negatively. They have had an impact on, health, education, business and general socialization. The underlying theme .

1. “Smart Phones Will Eliminate FAX Machine”
IDC. (2017). Fax Market Pulse: Trends, Growth and
Opportunities. Framingham, MA: IDC.
The report is based on survey by IDC to determine the
current and future use of fax machines by organizations. Based
on the report, 82% of the respondents indicated that fax usage
within the organization was expected to remain the same or
grow within the next year. Fax is seen as being deep-rooted in
majority of the organizations meaning that it is deeply
integrated with businesses workflow. The report concludes that
the use of fax machines is still a vital communication tool and
plays an important role within organizations. Its use is expected
to continue even as organizations embrace digital
transformation (IDC, 2017).
The article does not support the hypothesis that Smart Phones
Will Eliminate FAX Machines. Based on the article, fax
machines are seen as the preferred communication tool among
organizations with the trend expected to continue in future.
Crotty, B., & Mostaghimi, A. (2014). Confidentiality in the
digital age. BMJ, 348(may09 1), g2943-g2943.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g2943
The article discusses confidentiality and information security
within the health care system in view of the emergence of new
technologies of communication such as social media, email,
cloud computing, and personal technologies. Confidentiality and
privacy of data is very essential in health care. The article thus
discusses how the new emerging technologies affect the security
and confidentiality of data. As part of government regulations,
health care organization are required to maintain the privacy of
patient information. The article thus proposes ways in which the
organizations can ensure that the privacy of the information is
maintained. Of note is that personal technologies such as

2. smartphones are considered high risk with poor confidentiality
while fax machines are considered low risk with high
confidentiality levels. Fax machines will thus continue being
used in transmission of sensitive data (Crotty & Mostaghimi,
2014).
The article does not support the hypothesis that Smart Phones
Will Eliminate FAX Machine. The authors believe that fax
machines will still have continued use in future due to the need
of confidentiality in communication that is not guaranteed by
smartphones.
Sarwar, M., & Rahim, T. (2013). Impact of Smartphone’s on
Society. European Journal Of Scientific Research, 98(2), 216-
226.
The article is about smartphones, their capabilities, positive
aspects, and negative aspects. The authors describe smartphones
as hand held devices that have multiple capabilities such as;
taking pictures, chatting, emailing, web access, fax capabilities,
playing games and many other capabilities. Due to their many
capabilities, smartphones have had an impact on almost all
social activities both positively and negatively. They have had
an impact on, health, education, business and general
socialization. The underlying theme in all this sectors is the
ability of smartphones to ease communication. The use of
smartphone is expected to grow in future. However, one of the
negative aspects of communicating using smartphones is lack of
data privacy and information security (Sarwar & Rahim, 2013).
The article does not support the hypothesis that Smart Phones
Will Eliminate FAX Machine. Although the article highlights
the increased use of smartphones it shows that one of its
weakness is lack of data privacy and information security. On
the other hand data privacy and information security is a strong
benefit of using fax machines. Based on this it does not appear
that smartphones will eliminate fax machines,
Jones, R. (2016). Electronic Communication. Journal Of The

3. Southern African Institute Of Mining And Metallurgy, 116(5),
6-7.
The article describes how communication has evolved since the
time letters were used to the current means of digital
communication. The article describes the fax system as a highly
centralized means of communication that slowed down
organizational processes. E-mails are described as having
brought about efficiency in communication within the
organization, and the most commonly used means of
communication within organizations. For smartphones, the
author describes them as the most rapidly growing form of
communication through their ability to host a variety of social
media and instant messaging applications. The applications
make communication easy and real time (Jones, 2016).
The article supports the hypothesis that Smart Phones will
eliminate fax machines. The author describes telex, fax,
voicemails, and postal services as obsolete means of
communication that have been overtaken by modern digital
communication platforms.
Coopersmith, J. (2016). The Rise And Fall Of The Fax Machine.
As the title suggests, the book discusses how fax machines rose
and later declined in use. In the book, the author shows how the
fax machine gained popularity towards the 1970s with almost
every office having one. It was ten times more expensive to
send mail than to use a fax machine in the 1970s. However, with
the creation of the internet and emails in the 1970s the use of
the fax machine rapidly declined. Sending of large documents
using fax was a tedious process and thus emailing became more
popular. Fax machines were used as a backup in case email
failed. Based on the author, the fax machine has now been
totally replaced by the smartphone, a device that can do what a
fax does, even better. Most kids today don’t even know how a
fax machine is used (Coopersmith, 2016).
The article supports the hypothesis that Smart Phones will

4. eliminate fax machines. The author attributes the decline in use
of fax machines to the growing use of smartphones and shows
how fax machines have moved from being present in offices and
homes to being rarely seen
Wu, R., Rossos, P., Quan, S., Reeves, S., Lo, V., & Wong, B. et
al. (2011). An Evaluation of the Use of Smartphones to
Communicate Between Clinicians: A Mixed-Methods Study.
Journal Of Medical Internet Research, 13(3), e59.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1655
The article discusses numerous ways in which smartphones ease
and improve the efficiency of communication between
clinicians. A study conducted found that smartphones improved
mobility and multitasking abilities of practitioners.
Smartphones allow for both calling in case of emergencies and
emailing or texting in case of non-urgent issues. However,
smartphones are also interruptive and calls must be controlled
based on urgency (Wu et al., 2011).
The article supports the hypothesis that Smart Phones will
eliminate fax machines. Smartphones are shown to allow for
multiple communication styles and better efficiency as
compared to fax machines.
Halaweh, M. (2013). Emerging Technology: What is it?. Journal
Of Technology Management & Innovation, 8(3), 19-20.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/s0718-27242013000400010
The article discusses about emerging technology and
attempts to explain what an emerging technology is. In the
article, the writer dictates that the value of a technology
depends on the number of users who use it. In the article,
smartphones are viewed as an emerging technology that is
gaining popularity at a fast rate as compared to technologies
like fax machines that are declining. Smartphones popularity is
due to its ability to host a variety of communication platforms
such as Facebook (Halaweh, 2013).
The article supports the hypothesis that Smart Phones will

5. eliminate fax machines. Smartphones users are increasing while
fax machine users as decreasing. This shows that smartphones
are rising in value and thus eliminating use of fax machines.
Conclusion
Based on the articles, there is conflicting information on
whether smart phones will eliminate fax machines. For the
articles that support the hypothesis, they all cite the declining
levels of fax machines to conclude that the technology has
become obsolete. On the other hand, for the articles that do not
support the hypothesis, they all cite data privacy and
information security as the reason the fax machine will remain
relevant. Based on the articles, my conclusion is that the smart
phones will eventually eliminate fax machines. Fax machines
thrive over smart phones due to confidentiality and data security
while smartphones thrives over fax machines on a variety of
areas such as the ability to communicate real time and in bulk.
The use of fax machine is on a rapid decline and will not last in
the long run. Smartphones are continuously evolving and the
issue of data privacy and confidentially is expected to become
better as more encryption programs are formulated.
References
1. IDC. (2017). Fax Market Pulse: Trends, Growth and

6. Opportunities. Framingham, MA: IDC.
2. Crotty, B., & Mostaghimi, A. (2014). Confidentiality in the
digital age. BMJ, 348(may09 1), g2943-g2943.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g2943
3. Sarwar, M., & Rahim, T. (2013). Impact of Smartphone’s on
Society. European Journal Of Scientific Research, 98(2), 216-
226.
4. Jones, R. (2016). Electronic Communication. Journal Of The
Southern African Institute Of Mining And Metallurgy, 116(5),
6-7.
5. Coopersmith, J. (2016). The Rise And Fall Of The Fax
Machine.
6. Wu, R., Rossos, P., Quan, S., Reeves, S., Lo, V., & Wong, B.
et al. (2011). An Evaluation of the Use of Smartphones to
Communicate Between Clinicians: A Mixed-Methods Study.
Journal Of Medical Internet Research, 13(3), e59.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1655
7. Halaweh, M. (2013). Emerging Technology: What is it?.
Journal Of Technology Management & Innovation, 8(3), 19-20.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/s0718-27242013000400010