Japan's government has finally eliminated the use of floppy disks in all its systems, two decades since their heyday, reaching a long-awaited milestone in a campaign to modernize the bureaucracy. By the middle of last month, the Digital Agency had scrapped all 1,034 regulations governing their use, except for one…
Imagine if Germany tried to do this. So much crucial infrastructure would simply collapse. Bureaucracy everywhere in Germany is based on and hinges on technologies from the past millennium: floppy disks, FAX etc. Jesus
Fax machines are actually still pretty widely used in corporate America (but not in households at all). Especially insurance and medical companies. I remember having to ask my dad years ago to fax something for me from his work (a bank’s corporate office) since we didn’t have one in the house. (I don’t remember what the fax was for.)
I think with voip you can fax again, now from computer
Jesus only in Bavaria. But otherwise you’re right.
An anecdote: Back when I was studying we had the opportunity to gain a temporary full version of a specialised software. All there was to do was to proof that one is a legit student. We had to submit our proof of enrollment to the software’s manufacturer. The only way to do so was to submit it via fax! It coldn’t be done with email, as they told us on the telephone hotline. The software was a German product. We already have been overtaken by the rest of the world (regarding the IT sector).
As a german I can’t remember, when I used a fax the last time. I think, I have sent two or three faxes in my whole life and that was long ago. But while I am pretty sure, some administrations still use that shit, I cannot imagine, anyone in Germany used a floppy after the 90th. Maybe some retro freaks or an ancient tecnological device that resist to die. But that would really be an exemption.
Fucking excel sheets, though …