smelly purple faxes

Let's face it, the fax machine is as dead as a doornail - killed by email. Pretty much the only place faxes are used now is for documents that still need physical copies - "ink on paper"-type contracts, etc. Why not revitalise the fax machine by making every fax you receive bring back fond memories of your childhood? The solution is simple - the DittoFax.

Remember "ditto machines"? That was the machine in the secretary's office at your primary school that teachers used to crank out quizzes and worksheets. The copies were almost impossible to read, but everyone loved them anyway - because firstly, the output was purple; and secondly, it smelt fantastic.

I'm not sure what the smell was, but it smelt rather like some sort of cleaning fluid - perhaps alcohol-based? When you got a new worksheet from the teacher, they were still warm and smelled like someone's lovable alcoholic uncle.

Imagine if, on finding you had received a fax, you raced down excitedly to the fax machine to collect it, knowing if you got there while it was still warm, you could press it against your face and take a big big whiff of some no-doubt-carcinogenic yet deliciously-smelling ink? Fax use would triple overnight. I would imagine scented, coloured ink would be a doddle to create...

The same technology could also be applied to photocopiers and laser printers.