All you need is a graphics tablet, a device that recognizes scratches and scrawls made by a plastic pen and then translates those marks into digital form. Traditionally used by graphic artists, these tablets are now available in small, inexpensive models that the rest of us can adopt. My choice for simplicity and price is the Graphire ($100), from Wacom Technology. No bigger than a mouse pad, this tablet plugs into a USB port, and it comes with a cordless, batteryless mouse and a drawing stylus. It also includes software that lets you add notes to documents in your own handwriting, so it's perfect for filling out forms that arrive as scanned images, rather than as electronic documents.

If you're worried about misuse of your signature, then check out PenOp Signature (around $199), from PenOp. This software lets you capture and store a reusable digital signature "stamp," and it ensures that your signature won't be misused: Employing biometric signature verification, PenOp can tell the difference between your signature and an attempted forgery. The software can even bind your writing to a particular document, thereby preventing it from being attached to other files or papers. The system is so secure that Congress used it last year to attach electronic signatures to a bill that was then sent to President Clinton via email.

Coordinates: Graphire, Wacom Technology Co., www.wacom.com; PenOp Signature, PenOp Inc., www.penop.com

John R. Quain (jquain@fastcompany.com), a Fast Company contributing editor, appears often on CBS News and on MSNBC. He does not own a fax machine.

Sidebar: Quain's Top 10 Reasons to Forget Faxing

1. Faxes are hard to read. How many times have you called to ask what the illegible scribbles on a fax mean?

2. Faxes waste bandwidth. Sending a fax takes up an entire phone line -- the same line that you could be using to download email, surf the Web, or talk to a colleague.

3. Faxes kill trees. All that paper is a waste of natural resources. Score one for the tree huggers.

4. Fax machines waste ink. Ink cartridges don't grow on trees either.

5. Fax machines are slow. Faxes transmit information at an average rate of 14.4 KBPS -- much slower than a 56-KBPS modem. And with a fax, you still have to wait for a printout.

6. Fax machines waste time. In the time that it takes you to go to a fax machine, retrieve a fax, and then fax or call in a response, you could have answered a dozen emails.

7. Fax machines waste space. The machines themselves are a waste of valuable office real estate. The paper that they generate is a real space waster as well.

8. Faxes aren't secure. In most cases, fax machines are public. So you never know who is going to see that copy of your résumé sitting next to one.

9. Fax machines are unreliable. How many faxes have you missed because your machine ran out of paper?

10. Fax machines waste money. In the new economy, service calls, busy signals, and decreased productivity are needless expenses.