传真机将在5-10年内寿终正寝？

    尽管维勒斯坦相信短期内传真技术依然实用，但他不愿展望传真机的长期前景。奥斯汀•阿利森对传真机的未来则更为直率，他预计后者将在5-10年内消失。阿利森曾是一名房地产经纪人，目前在DotLoop担任首席执行官。这家公司把信息和合同放在云端，从而实现房地产交易自动化。阿利森说：“在过去30-40年左右的时间里，我们一直在从实体转向数字。传真机真的不符合这种趋势。”他指出，DotLoop有60多万名房地产客户，其中只有1.5%使用传真。撇开长期前景不谈，传真机已经巩固了自己在当前经营活动中的位置。维勒斯坦说：“只要客户有这方面的要求，传真机就不会真的消失。需求显然在下降，但这并不意味着你可以让传真机停止运转。”（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    Despite his belief in the technology's short-term relevance, Weilerstein won't take a stand on the fax machine's long-term future. Austin Allison, a former realtor and current CEO of DotLoop, a company that automates the real estate transaction process by moving interactions and contracts to the cloud, is more outspoken about the future of the fax machine, predicting its death in the next five to 10 years. "The last 30 to 40 years or so have been about us going from physical to digital," says Allison. "The fax machine really doesn't fit into that equation." Of DotLoop's more than 600,000 real estate customers, only 1.5% use the system to send faxes, he says. Long-term future aside, the fax machine has entrenched itself into the fabric of current business operations. "As long as businesses have some customers who require [faxes]," says Weilerstein, "it doesn't really disappear. The demand clearly decreases, but that doesn't mean you can pull the plug on it."