No they can record (I've seen someone do it at an acoustic gig!), just not very good quality:
http://www.taperssection.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=26919.0
ok but your answering machine records but do you tape with it?
Oooooooohhhhh......... good idea! I am bringing my answering machine to the d00dis show this weekend and recording with it!
i'm actually kicking myself for saying this because now that i think about it, Steve Poltz (wrote Jewel's You Were Meant For Me, but besides that is a good songwriter) recorded a cd of 30 second answering machine songs via his home answering machine. sounds like shit but is pretty funny at points. The waltz about cannabalism is funny as hell.
The lyrics are as follows:
I peel off your skin for a fleshy Mctreat
I fry it in a pan and it don't taste like meat
It tastes salty
A little bit Malty
I open up the fridge for a tropical flare
Your head tumbles out
And rolls right down the stairs
with no eyeballs
Must be in that guy's soup in the foyer
I better contact my lawyer
*beep* (ansering machine sound)