"Institute of Technology"

If I want to order transcripts from the California Institute of Technology, or from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I have to send a cumbersome FAX or fill out a pdf form and use snail mail. I can't send an e-mail or use an online ordering form. Those appear to be formats that are too technologically advanced for these two freaking institutes of technology. For Caltech, I can type into a fillable pdf form, but I can't save any data I enter. I have to print it out after I fill it out, and if I accidentally navigate away from the pdf document from the Caltech website, I have to fill everything out again.

On the other hand, if I want to order a transcript from the Tacoma Community College, where I took some classes when I was in high school, I can fill out an online form thanks to the National Student Clearinghouse. TCC made arrangements with the National Student Clearinghouse so that their former students may easily obtain their transcripts. Note that TCC does not have "Institute of Technology" in its name but manages to make chores like requesting transcripts easier for its alumni/ae using today's technology nevertheless. Meanwhile, the two Institutes of Technology where I have been schooled fail at doing so.

Now I understand that there may be reasons Caltech and MIT may both demand that I send a signed document in the mail or FAX in order to get my transcript. Perhaps they want to have a signature as a security or liability measure, in case some evildoer wants to obtain my transcript without my knowledge and do whatever unspeakable horrors someone with unauthorized access to my transcripts might do. But I don't see how this provides any measure of security. Anyone could fake my signature and the assistants working at the registrar offices of Caltech and MIT do not know what my signature looks like anyway. Furthermore, websites such as banking websites use certain internet security measures to check identities of users. While they're not perfect, I just wonder why Caltech and MIT stick to old-fashioned FAXes and snail mails for transcripts.

This reminds me of the poor state of classroom and lab equipment at MIT.