Revisiting A Myth

Back in 2010 I wrote this post. It was an attack on the idea that the paperless office was ever to become a reality and I stand behind that post and the perspective which inspired it. A week or so ago, I came across this blog post which reiterates my opinion that I was right in my convictions. 

Based on the facts presented in said article I must reiterate, since the inception of paper people always have and always will have an intense emotional connection to paper. Granted it may be more subtle to the printed page in the office space but, take it away from your employees against their will and behold the sh!t-storm!

From the Article:

"As Publishers Weekly puts it, “the 2014 figures are further evidence that print books are selling better than they have since sales of eBooks exploded in 2010.” The paper tome apparently hit rock bottom in 2012, but has since rallied in categories from children’s books to adult non-fiction, and formats from trade paperback to hardcover.

Students, too, are rediscovering paper. Several studies – including one by tech-centric Hewlett-Packard – find a strong preference for printed textbooks, notably among those in college who have tried both types. In the HP survey, 57% preferred print; only 21% preferred an eTextbook."

Read the whole article here.

Intuition Versus Lack Of Attention

Over the past few years I have heard a lot of commentary about how certain elements of the digital age are causing us to have short attention spans...

Many a guru has suggested that forcing our thoughts into 140 characters or less could be leading to the inability to finish reading a book or pay full attention to longer articles, presentations etc.

While there has been studies (particularity in regards to children growing up in today's world) which suggest that these concepts may be true, I have to wonder...

Are we really loosing our attention spans or is the collective intuition of humanity expanding in response to being supplemented by new technologies and communication mediums?

I am not necessarily suggesting that we are becoming psychic (although I am not saying we aren't) so much as I am suggesting that what is perceived by some as a lack of attention is merely the growth and ability of humanity as a whole to garner more knowledge from smaller portions of recorded information.

While you may not be able to write a thesis paper in 140 characters or less, you could certainly link said tweet to a video that could potentially present the same information and provide equall or better understanding to the audience of the subject matter via linked content.

I think it would be fair to suggest that we as human beings are starting to develop the ability to learn more or rather to garner larger amounts of knowledge and wisdom from smaller portions of the written word, shorter variations of age old stories and information about the world at large.

I can't help but think of Carl Jung's idea of the "collective unconscious" and wonder if perhaps the archetypes are getting restless...

Should this idea hold true, I think it may have some serious implications for our industry. If our collective intuition is growing we may actually get to a point where the printed page is truly unnecessary and yet I ponder, would we choose to stop printing documents?

Would our realization that printed documents are no longer necessary supersede our emotional attachment to paper?

I for one think that the printed page has a strong (albeit practically subconscious) emotional power on people.

In my 6 years in the imaging industry, I have only come across one office (a medical office) that had gone paperless...

Well except for that one laser printer they had on their counter just in case they "needed" to print something...

Indeed, the next decade or two will be a most interesting collection of events to watch unfold. While the printed page may very well be heading towards extinction, I can't help but to think that advancements in recycling technology may cause the use and constant re-use of paper to create more jobs in said industry thus birthing new excuses to keep the printed page simply for the fact that we as human beings, want the printed page...