theatlantic: Japan: The Country Where 59% of Households Still...

For most industrialized nations, the arrival of e-mail quickly heralded the beginning of a very slow decline for fax technology. But for a mix of reasons, Japan hung on. First, there?s language: Early word-processing software couldn?t work with?kanji, Japanese characters, so handwriting (and therefore fax) was the best way to transcribe and send messages electronically. Additionally, Japanese?document seals ? used much like a signature ? are often required for paperwork. Finally, high-speed Internet has remained costly in Japan, pushing much of the communication we do online to either mobile or ? fax.

Read more. [Image:?&_yo/Flickr]

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