Why 'Obsolete' Technologies Often Survive And Thrive In Business

Forbes

18-07-2025

Tamsin Gable is the head of PR at Municorn.
Walk into any record store today, and what do you see? Vinyl everywhere. An obsolete medium that was supposed to have been replaced by cassettes and then CDs back in the 1980s and 1990s has bounced back. Not only are classic recordings issued on high-quality vinyl, but new artists make sure that they have vinyl copies of their latest recordings on offer.
Why do people still listen to records when they can get almost any song they want on Spotify?
There are reasons for this, ranging from nostalgia to the experience of owning a physical record. But the No. 1 reason people are buying vinyl records in 2025 is that they sound better. They offer a unique listening experience that cannot be easily replaced.
If you catch yourself wondering what records have to do with business and marketing, the answer is simple. Other technologies that people thought had been rendered obsolete are in fashion for similar reasons. Just like compact discs and digital streaming providers were supposed to kill off the LP, people anticipated similar deaths for pagers, the fax machine and even email. But rather than being seen as outdated, these tools are still being used and are even experiencing a renaissance as businesses rediscover their strong points.
For communications and marketing leaders, this is a fact that is impossible to ignore. The community has always been chasing the next best technology, whether it's a new social media channel or how to best implement AI. But what gets lost in the shuffle is this: Some existing technologies work better. Those who ignore that fact stand to lose out in the market.
Tried And True
Much of the reason for this salience is that these technologies were designed to address specific needs. Pagers have long battery lives and are unaffected if a mobile phone network goes down. That's why the U.K.'s National Health Service continues to use them, in addition to smartphones. Some rescue services in the U.K. also use pagers.
And the market for this technology, which seemed like the state-of-the-art communication platform 35 years ago, is poised to grow. An April 2024 report by Cognitive Market Research predicted annual growth of 5.9% from 2023 to 2030 in the market for pagers. The same report said that pager sales generate revenues of $528 million in North America and $496 million in Europe.
This brings us to fax machines, since we are on the subject of obsolete technologies that won't die. Maybe 30 years ago, they were seen as standard technology. The move to the internet seemed as if it had signed the death warrant for the fax. Instead, the technology is thriving, particularly in sectors that continue to rely on it as a workhorse for different reasons, from security and compliance measures to basic ease of use.
Faxing As A Case Study
As the head of PR at a company that develops fax applications, I'm intrinsically aware of the benefits fax still offers to business leaders. Interoperability is one factor driving the continued use of fax machines. International standards for faxing have been in place since 1968. That means that a fax machine produced today can receive and send faxes to a machine built in the 1980s because they adhere to the same standards.
This is different from the smartphone market, where models from just a few years ago can already be rendered obsolete. Faxing also benefits from having a massive worldwide installed base. In some countries, faxing remains incredibly popular. A plan to phase out the fax in Japan in 2021, for instance, was abandoned, as most Japanese businesses rely on faxing. Germany is perhaps the best example of a country where more than 80% of businesses use fax machines.
With faxing, there are also regulatory factors at work that champion its prevalence. Some regulations call for the secure transmission of documents. These include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the U.S., the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) in Canada, the ISO/IEC 27001 international standard for information security, and the Systems and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) security framework for financial data developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Faxing is ideal to maintain adherence to these regulations.
Obsolescence Doesn't Mean Irrelevance
Just because faxing is still a go-to technology, though, doesn't mean you need to run out and invest in your own machine. Hybrid technology usage has also flourished. There are many online fax service providers that are available. Users receive incoming faxes as email attachments and can send them in a similar manner. Providers can also give you a fax number if you would rather not get another landline installed. If your business requires physical signatures, or is active in regulated industries such as healthcare or the insurance industry, these online fax services might be a safe bet for you.
For any marketing or communications professional assessing their current tech investments, my advice has been to be thoughtful when it comes to reviewing one's tech stack and adopting these new technologies. Take a look at what tools your team uses today and audit them. If it's working, then maybe there is no need to replace it. And make sure the front-line teams are in the loop. Ask them what tools they prefer. Always check your compliance needs while doing so, and if you do decide to go for a new technology, test it out before switching. Finally, map for redundancy and keep at least one low-tech or offline option available.
While the paperless office remains a dream, the reality is that printers and copy machines are still buzzing away around the world. Most businesses have landlines, and medical workers rely on pagers. Loads of documents still get sent by regular mail, too. And people are still buying vinyl.
Just because a technology has been around forever doesn't mean that it's automatically passe. What it means is that it has been around the block and works like a charm.
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