"It's a brave E-world but paper is still King!"
Have you ever wondered if our society will ever be paperless? After all, we are so much more advanced technologically, why can’t this happen, or why shouldn’t it?
Did you know that there was a “1998 Government Paper Elimination Act”? [1] I didn’t! But yes there was such an act. Federal agencies were required by law to stop using paper when creating new or storing current documents. And they had to make sure that all of their forms and other pertinent documents were available on line; and those agencies that accepted payments had to be accepting electronic payments by 2002!
So that’s why they all went on line! Of course it only made sense because from inception, the World Wide Web was becoming such a trend and gaining a strong foothold in our society!
After most Federal agencies went online, did this help them to become paperless? To this date there are many of them that still uses paper. Because some people are more comfortable with it.
What would be the benefit of being paperless? Let’s look at this for a moment. Especially for those companies whose main objective is paper, such as a publishing company; a book publisher or even a newspaper.
“• No more newsprint to buy – and other than the annoying cost of human beings, this is the single largest expense newspaper companies have.
• No more presses – as long and as heavy as oceangoing ships, and about as expensive – to buy.
• No more people to run those presses.
• No more circulation departments to run.
• No more circulation trucks to buy, gas up and maintain.
• No more delivery people to hire. ” [2]
So it seems that although it would be beneficial for those companies to go paperless because their costs would go down, it might not be beneficial for the people who might lose their jobs.
But let’s forget about those big companies and look at what this would mean for the rest of us. There are more people using the Internet everyday, 24/7. We do practically everything on line these days. We shop, read, talk, watch videos, television and movies; everything that we used to do offline in our real time world, are now available on line and has become such a convenience that most people no longer do some things without going on line first!
This is much easier because of, according to one article I read, the development of XML “a standard and metalanguage that offers a data-structuring flexibility and sophistication far beyond the capabilities of HTML (hypertext markup language)” [1].
It makes documents look like originals, the formatting much better and easier to understand and documents can open in any application. This is a major difference and a big help for people who are not Internet savvy!
After the development of the Internet, many sources said our Society would be paperless within a few years after its inception, it is now 2006, we’re on the cusp of the year 2007 and we are not a paperless society!
There was a Canadian study done to see how or where Society was in this digital age, [3] “Our Lives in Digital Times”, The Daily on Friday November 10, 2006 published the results of the study.
Although this new technology, (the Internet) had us communicating more with each other, whether by email or the telephone; we are also sending more postal mail, and courier and messenger services are growing. This could be because we are associating more with people outside of our usual communities. This is as true as we do here on JoeUser.
We are also spending more; sales on the Internet have doubled and this is a good thing because it has lead to more new companies and the hiring of more people; more people employed equals more spending which is good for the economy of any country. People are also willing to pay for the privileges that having the Internet provides for them.
Our use of paper has also doubled! Yes, doubled! Although documents can be scanned and converted online, some of us continue to print, read and sometimes even file a document taken from the Internet. Many people print a document to read later.
The Study also noted that although video conferencing is available and is being used by some, traveling to other locations whether for business or pleasure, has also increased.
Libraries, although not totally so, are also going paperless what with PDF formatted documents and forms and books available online. And having computers for its patrons use, the Library is trying to keep abreast with the technology age.
Books are still pretty popular. In fact there are now more creative things associated with books these days. “From having online counterparts to working hand-in-hand with simulation tools, books are becoming a launching pad for resources online.” [4]
Sandra Gittlen noted in her article “Paperless society falls by the wayside”, that when she visited a research center a couple of years ago, the researchers talked about a paperless society and said that everything from newspapers and training manuals would be digital. Today she still receives heavy-bound books by mail! Nothing happening there as yet! [4]
Many people are much more comfortable using their credit cards and giving out personal information online, such as when shopping and dating and doing other activities, chatting etc, these are the trends that have changed the face of the Internet as we now know it to be today.
Is this making us a paperless society then? Or are we just more technology friendly?!
Bill Virgin, Columnist of the Seattle Post said it best with this title in his witty article:
“It’s a brave E-world, but Paper is still King!” [5]
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[1] See the full article Imaging Integral Part of a Total E-Solution – Toward a Paperless Society 06/19/00; Vol. 15 No. 6, at the following link: Link
[2] Toward a Paperless Society By Thomas Kunkel, (editor@ajr.umd.edu), president of AJR, is dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Link
[3] The article from The Daily can be read here Link
For more information on the article "Our lives in digital times" is now available as part of the Connectedness Series (56F0004MIE2006014, free). From the Publications page, under Free Internet publications, choose Communications.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Heidi Ertl (613-951-1891; heidi.ertl@statcan.ca) or Ben Veenhof (613-951-5067; ben.veenhof@statcan.ca), Science, Innovation and Electronic Information Division.
[4] Paperless society falls by the wayside by SANDRA GITTLEN - [link http://www.nwnetsmart.com/ns/getsmart/ARCHIVES/082802.html ">Link you will see an error message, scroll down and you will see Ms. Gittlen’s article.
[5] Link
It's a brave e-world, but paper still king by Bill Virgin, Seattle Post-intelligencer Columnist, can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com.