Hehe... I have to agree that people have been talking about the "paperless office" for well over 20 years!
However, the momentum HAS been building.. at first very slowly, but now, I think, we are reaching critical mass. I'm not talking about the demise of books here, but electronic data and records: Some instances I have noticed: - I buy and sell shares online through Commsec (largest broker in Australia) they used to send their contract notes as hard copy, though they have given you the option of downloading pdfs for some time, now the default is to just send electronic contract notes - you pay extra to get a hard copy sent. - those of us who used electronic banking from the early days will have noticed that the ability to download info has been introduced and improved for sometime but tended to be inconsistent from bank to bank - now they all tend to allow you to download statements as pdfs - and I note with CBA that this is now via a screen giving you the option to discontinue paper statements and move to purely electronic statements (and this is the default option if you just go with the flow - you have to actively select the option to keep getting paper every tie you grab a pdf) - companies now exhort shareholders to opt out of hard copy annual reports, AGM notifications and even dividend statements in favour of "green" electronic notification (pdf's again) - For our first annual audit of our SMSF, the auditor wanted all records couriered to him. I said I had everything as pdfs, why not email them. At first he said no - they needed the original hard copies - until I pointed out that for contract notes, bank statements etc the pdfs WERE my originals - I could print them out but that would be a second generation copy also for share transfers I had to send the originals and keep a copy. He accepted this and then decided it was inconsistent to then ask for hard copies of everything - he is now happy with my electronic copies (provided that for signed documents I scanned the signed original). - much of the printed manuals for software (and hardware) is now replaced with pdfs (either on CD or downloaded) - more convenient and easier to keep up to date. - my sister work in records management and many companies are now moving to getting their records scanned and filed electronically. Whilst, as noted on a previous thread, there are dangers with electronic archives - this is also the case with physical records - fire, flood, rot & vermin - and your back-ups (photocopies) use up even more trees - not to mention that your off-site back-up/archiving uses up significant space. Although I haven't yet binned all my hard copy filing system, I am getting to the stage where I do more and more electronically and don't then print out hard copies to file away. I appreciate the need for more than one back-up (including off-site back-up) and enjoy how easily I can achieve this with my Mac - the print to pdf functionality we have with OSX is a godsend! Whilst I am cognisant of the danger of obsolete file types, I am confident that pdfs are now so widespread that when they are eventually superseded there will be a significant overlap during any changeover to a new file standard together with the necessary tools to convert existing data. Just my 2c worth ;) Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: n...@possumology.com on 29/1/10 8:36 AM, Peter Hinchliffe at hinch...@multiline.com.au wrote: > > > On 28/01/2010, at 12:55 PM, Mark Secker wrote: > >> I can people using products such as these to replace magazines, periodicals >> and factual repository books (dictionaries/encyclopedias etc)... Our ³normal >> computers, both desktop and laptop have already been doing this over the last >> 15 years... >> Project Gutenberg and Google books along with ewer devices like the iPhone & >> touch and Kindle and now the iPad will accelerate this... >> >> But... Don¹t look at books dying not in our lifetime, probably not even in >> the long term future.... >> There is a very visceral connection with books that no hand held device will >> emulate. > > I have to agree with your sentiments. Ever since I touched my first Apple IIe > in 1983, people have been predicting a "paperless" society. Here we are nearly > thirty years later and it's not close to happening. Further back than that, > the advent of television was predicting the death of the movie industry. That > hasn't happened either. Was has happened is that the print industry and the > movie industry have had to change the nature of their products to keep them > relevant. Yes, many of the smaller players will be consumed by the juggernaut > of changing technology, but it's going to be long, long time before we see the > ultimate demise of either of these industries; and these are only two examples > out of many. > > Pretty much any activity which relies on having to deal with business clients > or the public (which is pretty much any business) is going to need access to > hardcopy records to back up financial records, warranty issues, ownership > rights, etc, etc. The list is endless. It doesn't take to much thought to > realise that as soon as the power to an electronic document storage system > fails, the documents cease to exist in any physical sense. We are going to > need paper for the foreseeable future. > > I could go on, but I won't, except to say that I had the delight of watching > Avatar in 3D at the Gold Class cinema at Innaloo on the weekend. In my wildest > imagination, I can't see how any handheld video device could match that > experience. > > > -- > > Peter Hinchliffe Apwin Computer Services > FileMaker Pro Solutions Developer > Perth, Western Australia > Phone (618) 9332 6482 Mob 0403 064 948 > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > Mac because I prefer it -- Windows because I have to. > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Unsubscribe - <mailto:wamug-unsubscr...@wamug.org.au>
