IN the age of the internet where communication is as easy as a text, email or WhatsApp message, the apparent revelation that Lionel Messi used a fax to tell Barcelona he wants to leave sparked online reminiscence of the days of the clunky fax machine.

It’s a bit outdated?

The fax was the brainchild of Caithness-born inventor and engineer, Alexander Bain, who was also the first to invent and patent the electric clock. He worked on creating chemical mechanical fax type devices that would electrically transmit images and received a patent in May 1843 for his ‘Electric Printing Telegraph’.

The golden era?

The 1980s and 1990s were the heyday of the fax, where people basically faxed everything, from personal letters to business documents, lunch orders at restaurants and legal papers. Most businesses had two phone lines - one for calls, one for faxing. In the United States alone, the number of fax machines rose from 25,000 in 1970 to 250,000 in 1980, but then exploded from 500,000 machines installed in 1985 to 5 million in 1990.

The digital era?

The rise of email stemmed the tide, but the fax did not die out. It emerged in 2018 that the NHS in England was one organisation still leaning heavily on the fax for communication – 9,000 were still in use that year. Matt Hancock, health secretary, demanded that health trusts stop using the “archaic” devices.

Still hanging on in there?

Despite the digital options, faxing remains one of the most popular methods of communication. Annually, 43 million fax machines are in use around the world, with millions more purchased and more than 17 billion individual documents sent every year. 

Why are they still so popular?

The fact they do not contain spam and are not at risk of computer viruses appeal to users today looking for secure modes of communication.

Messi?

It emerged this week that football supremo Lionel Messi, captain of Barcelona, asked to terminate his contract with immediate effect with the club by way of a clause in his current deal, putting his request in writing in the form of a fax.

An actual fax?

As shocked football fans pondered where Messi could go, others couldn’t get over his choice of communication, with one Tweeter saying: “Am I the only one wondering why Messi is still using a fax machine???”

There was some suggestion he may have used a “Burofax”, a service used when you want to urgently dispatch a document that requires proof to third parties.

However?

Images of the actual fax sent by Messi popped up online, seemingly proving he opted for a retro fax.

Famous faxes?

Messi may take the prize for the most memorable fax sent, but back in 1994, after 10 years of marriage, a rumour began that Phil Collins had faxed his wife to say that he wanted a divorce. In an interview in 2016, Collins dubbed the episode 'Faxgate', denied that it happened and added that it had "really hurt my career or my public persona.”