The following is some feedback I just types into Apple’s Mac OS X Feedback web form:
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I wanted to take this opportunity to comment of the “Print & Fax” controls built into Mac OS X 10.3 (and later) System Preferences.
It is still necessary to correspond with some people in business via FAX. Some people still prefer to send some documents to our home-office in this way. (Broadband has not yet penetrated universally, anyway, so asking people to scan and email their documents is not always practical, even for those who are technologically literate enough to do so.)
Regarding the “Print & Fax” capability in Mac OS 10.3 and later…
When I want to receive a fax, I have to take a late-model Mac with 10.3 or later installed, have it configured to receive the fax, plug it into a phone line, and wait. Mac OS X doesn’t put any icons in the menu bar to let you know the status of the built-in modem. (Why not?) Mac OS X doesn’t give you a status report on modem activity, such as who the fax is coming from/caller ID, what page number, what bit rate, etc. (Why not?) Added to this, Apple sells external modems for newer Intel Macs as an extra-cost option.
This being the case, why doesn’t Apple simply make a deal with the manufacturers of all of these multi-function machines (print/scan/copy/fax machines from Brother, HP, Lexmark, etc.) so that computers on a network (Airport via USB, or maybe via Printer Sharing) could send faxes though a multi-function machine hooked to a base station via USB, and maybe even receive faxes to a designated machine on the network? If a modern Mac can scan and print via USB, why can’t it fax as well?
Contributed by: Walt Atwood

The following is some feedback I just types into Apple’s Mac OS X Feedback web form:
——————————-
I wanted to take this opportunity to comment of the “Print & Fax” controls built into Mac OS X 10.3 (and later) System Preferences.
It is still necessary to correspond with some people in business via FAX. Some people still prefer to send some documents to our home-office in this way. (Broadband has not yet penetrated universally, anyway, so asking people to scan and email their documents is not always practical, even for those who are technologically literate enough to do so.)
Regarding the “Print & Fax” capability in Mac OS 10.3 and later…
When I want to receive a fax, I have to take a late-model Mac with 10.3 or later installed, have it configured to receive the fax, plug it into a phone line, and wait. Mac OS X doesn’t put any icons in the menu bar to let you know the status of the built-in modem. (Why not?) Mac OS X doesn’t give you a status report on modem activity, such as who the fax is coming from/caller ID, what page number, what bit rate, etc. (Why not?) Added to this, Apple sells external modems for newer Intel Macs as an extra-cost option.
This being the case, why doesn’t Apple simply make a deal with the manufacturers of all of these multi-function machines (print/scan/copy/fax machines from Brother, HP, Lexmark, etc.) so that computers on a network (Airport via USB, or maybe via Printer Sharing) could send faxes though a multi-function machine hooked to a base station via USB, and maybe even receive faxes to a designated machine on the network? If a modern Mac can scan and print via USB, why can’t it fax as well?
Contributed by: Walt Atwood