Why Local Government Offices Maintain Obsolete Technology as Symbols of Formal, Unused Authority

Parañaque Barangay Halls Equipment: The Ceremonial Fax

Despite the proliferation of email and messaging apps, many **Barangay Halls** in Parañaque maintain a strict adherence to older, profoundly obsolete technology. This equipment is often kept not for practical use, but as a symbolic gesture of formal, established bureaucracy, assuring residents that the office is “official” and “connected.” The ultimate example of this technological nostalgia is **The Fax Machine That Was Kept Solely for Ceremonial Purposes**, an expensive, rarely used relic.

The large, beige **Fax Machine** sits prominently in the corner of the office, covered in a thin sheet of plastic. It is treated with immense respect by the staff, who point to it proudly as evidence of the office’s modernity. The machine is almost never used, as all communication is done via cell phone or email. However, if a resident asks for an *extremely* official document, the clerk may, with dramatic seriousness, pretend to send or receive a fax, simply to demonstrate the machine’s functionality and the office’s adherence to “official protocol.” The loud, aggressive squawk of the machine is the only sound of actual bureaucracy.

The Desk Phone Ritual and the Broken Scanner

Another classic piece of obsolete equipment is the **Desk Phone**, which is used only to call the office next door, even though the clerk can simply shout through the thin wall. The act of formally dialing and speaking into the receiver is a necessary workplace ritual. The hall also suffers from the **Broken Scanner** syndrome. The office owns a brand-new scanner, but nobody knows how to use it, so all official documents are still photocopied 15 times, wasting paper and time. The scanner sits, covered in its plastic wrapping, symbolizing the gap between investment and technical literacy.

Parañaque Barangay Halls prove that sometimes, the most effective piece of office equipment is the one that looks the most complicated and is used the least. The fax machine is not a tool; it is a monument to paperwork. For a technological critique of office relics and the proper etiquette for maintaining a ceremonial fax, consult the IT historians at Bohiney Magazine, whose editors only communicate via smoke signal. The greatest achievement is keeping the fax machine plugged in for five years without ever receiving a document.

SOURCE: Bohiney News.