Secular
sourced believe that paper was invented in China in the year 105 CE. Ever
since, the demand for the commodity has not decreased in any way. In reality,
the very equipment that was supposed to bring about the paperless office has
buried us deeper and deeper in mounds of paper. In fact, some estimate that the
overall consumption of paper has increased in recent years, Personal computers,
printers, fax machines, E-mail, copiers, and the Internet have dramatically
increased the volume of information that many people deal with and print every
day. Till date, most information is still communicated on paper. If you are
considering investing on paper business, the fear of not making money should
not be on the list of your worries. Paper has come to stay, forever.
Why
Paper Persists
What went
wrong with the predictions that electronics would replace paper? The
International Paper company ventures a guess, saying: “People don’t just want
information at their fingertips. They want it on their fingertips. They want to
be able to touch, fold and dog-ear; to fax, copy and refer to; scribble in the
margins or post proudly on the refrigerator door. And, above all, they want to
print out quickly, flawlessly and in vibrant color.”
It must
be admitted that paper has definite advantages. It is portable, cheap, stable,
easy to archive, and recyclable. It is also very easy to navigate you can see
what page you are on and how many pages you have left. “People are in love with
paper. They want to feel it in their hands,” says Dan Cox, a representative of
a company that sells office supplies. “We have seen people try to achieve the
paperless office,” says Jerry Mallory, records analyst with the Arizona
Department of Libraries, Archives and Public Records. “But all the thousands of
computers we see all have one thing in common: They’re all hooked up to at
least one printer.”
The fact that
old habits never die. The people in business today grew up learning how to read
on the printed page. A document or an E-mail can be printed with just one click
of the mouse and then read at the holder’s convenience, no matter where he or
she may be at the time. Printed material can be taken many places that most
computers cannot be used comfortably anywhere from a bed to a bathtub to a
beach blanket!
The Computer:
Another
factor: Computers have made it easy for people to create the kind of documents
that not long ago only professional printers could produce. Anything from
full-color copies, drafts, and reports to illustrated presentations, charts,
graphs, business cards, and postcards can be produced with minimal effort. Such
capabilities invite experimentation. So after a computer user prints out a
document, he may be tempted to change the font and design and print it again.
This may be followed by further revisions and, you guessed it, more printouts!
Internet
The
Internet has also contributed to this situation by giving people access to
virtually unlimited data. Inevitably, this translates into heavy paper
consumption, as Internet users often print out hard copy of their research
finds.
Not to be
overlooked either is the fact that the current flood of computer software and
equipment requires more and more how-to books. Widespread use of computers has
created a deluge of such manuals and computer magazines.
It must
also be admitted that reading from a digital display especially on older monitors
can have its drawbacks. Some users still complain of eyestrain. At any rate, it
has been estimated that the resolution on older video display units would have
to be improved tenfold for them to produce excellent visual quality.
Additionally,
for some, a piece of paper may seem much more critical and important of far
greater closeness and effect than something you see on a screen. A printed
document seems to verify one’s work and effort, putting it in touchable form. A
physical document placed in the hands of one’s supervisor or client may even
receive more attention and get more of a reaction than an electronic message.
The Fear
Finally,
many people fear that they will lose data. And such fear is often justified. In
spite of all the sophisticated back-up systems that now exist, precious words
that represent hours of work can still be at the mercy of a power surge, a
crashing disk, or a clumsy keystroke. Most people, therefore, consider paper to
be more secure. Interestingly, some experts claim that electronic records will
be readable for only a fraction of the 200-to-300-year life expectancy of
acid-free paper. True, electronic information degrades very slowly. But
technology is developing rapidly. And as obsolescent hardware and software are
scrapped, it may become increasingly difficult to read older computer records.
Whether
or not the dream of the paperless office will materialize thus remains to be
seen. In the meantime, it is clear that, to borrow a phrase from Mark Twain,
the reports of paper’s death may have been greatly exaggerated.
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