by AK - Jeff 14 Replies latest jw friends
With the advances in digital communication, when will society move to paperless?
Nooks/Kindles are making books obsolete. Computer/Internet is making newsprint obsolete. Email/etc is making postal letters a thing of the past.
Not gone yet. Perhaps never gone. But looks like paper forms of communication are going the way of the Edsel before long.
Thoughts?
Jeff
Kindles? Me don't like. Paperless society? Where I have worked, everything gets printed out for legal reasons and stored in archive boxes.
I've been hearing about paperless offices for twenty years or so. I don't think it will ever happen. As an accountant, I want a paper trail (as ballisic pointed out). We can reduce a lot of paper, but it won't go away.
For those of us who really like books, a kindle will never be quite the same thing.
I can't stand kindles and tablets for reading, reading is NOT just about reading the letters it's a whole experience.
The smell of an old book, the feel of the pages, the different textures, so much more than "just reading".
And as everyone that has ever dealt with a customer on almost any level knows, a paper trail is crucial.
Some info is good online, some is better in paper form. For the WT, their main product is magazines, which have been hurt badly by the internet.
Their real estate in Brooklyn saved their bacon over the past 15 years. I doubt they will be able to repeat their past performance with upstate NY real estate, meaning they will have to cut back on their publishing operation eventually.
I can't stand kindles and tablets for reading, reading is NOT just about reading the letters it's a whole experience.
The smell of an old book, the feel of the pages, the different textures, so much more than "just reading".
I have this vision in my head of the day books were invented, there was probably some guy saying:
"Sure it's more convenient to be able to just flip to whichever section or 'page' you want but I still prefer to use my scrolls, I like the feeling of holding what I'm reading in both hands at arms length. And closing a book is just to gosh-darn quick, you're supposed to use the 5 minutes while you roll the scroll back up to THINK about what you read, not just slam it shut and move on."
And in several years when we can just download information directly into people's brains I'm sure there will be people all nostalgic about their nooks and kindles.
I'm not criticizing you psac, that's just the image that popped to mind and I thought it was funny.
I hate kindles! Nothing can compare with a book... Especially when you are reading curled up on the setee with some chocolate, and in your eagerness to read the next page you absently smear chocolate over the pages. Yes everyone of my books have chocolate smudges! Lol
I hope kindles never replace books... There is nothing like seeing, touching, absorbing a ''first'' edition... I can't imagine seeing a ''first'' edition of a kindle will have quite the same effect!
Peace
I've been hearing about paperless offices for twenty years or so. I don't think it will ever happen. As an accountant, I want a paper trail (as ballisic pointed out). We can reduce a lot of paper, but it won't go away.
Compare what it was to what it is. If you want to say that there will always be a tiny fraction of paper, maybe. But I agree that it's coming.
I do not have a Kindle or the equivalent, but I have read books on the computer and I see the winds of change. Books are better in that they always work in the light without batteries, they can be lost or ruined, but it's no big deal to set them down at the beach while swimming or drop them in the tub. They are more expensive than the ebooks now, so that spells doom.
Newsprint is a thing of tradition. It will die sooner than books.
I think the post offices will survive quite a while yet as it is still useful and what poor people need. But bill paying will change if society lets it. Companies hate generating paper and paying postage and waiting for their money. They will encourage technology that allows the poor to "save a stamp." It'll happen.
Think about this: coupons in the mail and newsprint are almost entirely dead. They have websites that encourage you to print your own at home. Eventually, you will be able to get the deal without the physical coupon, but will just scan your smartphone at the checkout. It's already happening at airports where you can print your own boarding passes at home or (often) just show your smartphone scan of your pass.
Maybe not paperless, but less paper. Don't know about society, but my home has a lot less paper (and other stuff) thanks to digital media. I read newspapers, magazines and a lot of other info online instead of print. Music, etc. is also mostly digital, so no piles of CDs and other crap. I love that digital media eliminates clutter.
Like others here, I still like the feel of a real book. I don't think I'll ever go without a shelf of books, but maybe if I get an iPad I will purchase less dead trees.
I agree about the feel/look/smell of real books. Still, there is an entire generation now that have not experienced a lifetime of that sort of nostalgia, and I think prob never will. This generation is all about fast/compact/easy to file digitally.
Same with paper and offices. The geek generation will find more and creative ways to eliminate it, both physically and legally, given time.
Papyrus, vellum, scrolls all went away with new tech approaches. Same will happen with books/papers/files over time. I just wonder how soon it will happen. 100 years ago it could not imagined the technologies that have enacted nearly an entire world that would be fully alien to our great-grandparents. Technology is moving at a rate multiple to anything experienced on the planet, and I doubt there are any 'sacred cows' that will survive because of nostalgia.
Jeff
