When I worked in an office we sometimes went to the small sandwich shop across the street, even though this often meant standing in a long line, so we were fairly hopeful when a notice circulated through the office that the shop was now taking fax orders.One day we all faxed in our orders and went to the sandwich shop, where, as usual, we stood in a long line. During this herd behavior we all assumed that when we made it to the head of the line, we would alert the employee to our previously faxed order, who would then hand us our sandwiches. This proved a valid assumption up until the “hand us our sandwiches” part. Instead, when we told the employee we’d faxed the order and identified it by name, he walked to a fax machine, rifled through the faxes, then handed it to the person making the sandwiches. So with the exception of wasting some paper and the cost of faxing, the technology made no difference in our sandwich experience.

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