by Kevin J. Fry

Introduction Introduction

The idea that something could be done without paper began when forms of media started to into something called broadcasting. Radio was introduced in the 1930's. With this new development in technology, information could be heard by anyone with the proper equipment within the radius of a tower. News and other information could be heard by many. Telephones lead to more advancements. One person could talk to another person, but not being in the same room or city for that matter. Telegrams could be delivered faster than mail across the country. With the introduction of the television, mankind was able to see more than what could be imagined. We were able to see a conversion and combination of technology with the moon landing. A combination of radio, television, computers, engineering, physics, and much more as a success in the development of technology.

All of the technology we've had over these years has been updated and improved on over and over again. innovations and inventions bringing us closer and closer to the dependence on the technology we use. Factor one thing of technology out of our daily lives / habits, and we're lost. And it's the youth that have become accustomed to such a lifestyle. Radio is now used for news, entertainment, commercialism, commentary, and now available in high definition and satellite. Telephone lines now carry information. Computers can now dial-up to other computers, which also brings us to ATM machines being able to dial into banks as a secure media to access money. Television has advanced to so many companies broadcasting that new forms of delivery options had to be created. So communication lines evolved to ISDN, networking, coaxial cable, T-1, T-3, OC-3, OC-49, and even satellite. We've even been able to achieve other wireless forms of communication other than satellite. From cordless phones, wireless cell phones, and wireless information such as Wi-Fi. We even change things and can send information through something called IR, and now, another form of wireless called blue tooth.

It's the truth, technology has advanced so much over the past hundred years, fifty years, going all the way down the line, new ideas and technologies are being introduced on a daily basis, and our dependence are even greater than what they were five / ten years ago. Ever since the personal computer in the 1980's, companies have been driving consumers, and businesses alike to use these new forms of technology, and to depend on them. For me personally, the publishing, imaging, printing, copying, scanning has brought me to the idea that the paperless environment is indeed possible. Of course the paperless office is not an idea of my own, but the thoughts of many or few. I do not know who first had the idea, but I would like to prove that it's possible. One thing no one can do is predict the future, no one can make another to strictly use computers, and it's quite possible that no matter how much technology we have, paper will always be in existence.

Politics may never allow the restriction of paper. In the United States, so much paper is used every day. Our constitution was written on paper and it is still preserved to this day. That is just one of the paper documents in this world that no matter how much, and how many ways we can take digital pictures, 3D representations, place it in Microsoft Word, read it over the radio, make a DVD about it, there is nothing like seeing the document in front of you, knowing that this document is so many years old, and it founded / started our country.

Individuals, from birth to death, are bombarded with documents. Starting from your birth certificate and social security card, to medical forms, documents, letters, bills, mail. All of these item are delivered to a person in paper form. The thing is, for all of these paper documents, there is a paperless solution.

Introduction History

As recordable and broadcasting technology emerged throughout the 20th century, the thought of the paperless office came about. Then with the television, and many other forms of technology that emerged, information could be retrieved from other sources other than paper. Newspapers could be transferred onto film-like images called microfiche. The 1980s brought the possibly of storing information on disk, the 1990s brought more sight of the Internet and faster access to computers along with the color of the computer that could see pictures. And now it's before 2010, and technology seems to be spinning faster and faster for us to grasp what is being made and how we would use all of these items. Having the latest and greatest tech toys are great to have immediately, but some wait on the items to go down in price, or wait for a device to contain all of the functions that they think a device should have.

If you would like to do your own research on the history of technology, there are many web sites you can check out to research such information. The truth is that technology is advancing so rapidly, and technology is getting better, more efficient. Better resolutions, faster speeds, and more software.?

Start Quote From: http://www.abc.net.au/pipeline/radio/programs/prog8.htm Mark Balnaves:

The idea of the paperless office goes back some way. In fact to 1936 there was the notion of the lonely crowd. And it partly meant being lonely in the age of media but also being able to get rid of paper, and traditional media. This is actually when film and radio were emerging, and of course as computers emerged people very much wanted to, or assumed that paper could be got rid of.

Most of the studies interestingly have showed that when organisations start to become computer intensive, their paper consumption actually goes up by 50 per cent. When people use computers they tend to produce more drafts rather than less, so they tend to key in a document, do an edit, run it off and do the same thing again.

Whereas when people used to do it by hand, for example when I did my doctorate by hand, I didn't want to run off too many drafts, but when you have a computer it's much easier. You don't see offices getting less paper when you walk into them nowadays, they tend to be still crowded with paper, and a lot of them are productions printing from a computer.

End Quote accessed 2007-07-16

Most web sites on the Internet, start recording the history of computers back into the BC age. (i.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computers ) I find it hard to believe that programming took place back then. I can’t believe that it was even conceivable that items like the dead sea scrolls could be placed in a media form like the Internet, but through projects like Project Gutenberg, a Bible can be downloaded in HTML format. The Internet also has start dates, but was used by the military for the most part. That network was called ARPANET.

Start Quote From: http://ask.yahoo.com/20010824.html

Sent by computer engineer Ray Tomlinson in 1971, the email was simply a test message to himself. The email was sent from one computer to another computer sitting right beside it in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but it traveled via ARPANET, a network of computers that was the precursor to the Internet.

End Quote accessed 2007-07-18

You can do some research on your own regarding the history of the Internet and all sorts of technology that could be a book in it’s self. But this section in my book is just letting you know that technology and computers do have a large history. The idea of the paperless office developed when recordable and broadcasting technology came into the public eye.

In 1937, the process called Xerography was invented by American law student Chester Carlson. Carlson had invented a copying process based on electrostatic energy. Xerography became commercially available in 1950 by the Xerox Corporation. Xerography comes from the Greek for "dry writing". I believe that because of the availability of paper, and paper producing items like the printer, fax machine, and copy machine, and defiantly the use of computers (one draft after another, don’t like this copy, make an edit here and print attitude), we have created an environment in our daily lives to use this paper. It would take massive re-thinking, and re-training, to be in a less paper environment, which is a lot more realistic than the paperless environment.

Introduction Optimism

This day in age, the children seem to be more apt to program the TiVo systems, hook up the surround sound system, and cruise the Internet faster than their parents. It makes sense that this generation will be able to create a paperless society. This generation is growing up with computers, scanners, cell phones and PDAs. These children will grow up and start living on their own and the easier way for them may be to actually develop a paperless environment of their own. Start Quote From: http://www.cftech.org/page14974.cfm Positives: 1. Capturing an image allows you to be confident this is exactly what was sent in the mail, etc. 2. The long-term cost of storage is inexpensive, convenient and secure. 3. There is no write feature once a document is imaged. Therefore, if you are sharing documents on multiple workstations you don’t have to worry something will be altered. 4. Multiple workstations can view the same images at the same time. 5. Many software products allow email capability so you can easily send a lost report, copy of acknowledgement to a donor or fund contact. End Quote accessed 2007-07-16 Start Quote From: http://www.productivity501.com/paperless-office/42/ However, on the positive side of things, I’ve drastically reduced the amount of paper that I personally generate. With Blockbuster Online as the sole exception, I do not regularly mail out anything. My checks are all sent electronically and most of them are scheduled automatically. My correspondence is done through email. So maybe the paperless office is starting to arrive in a very gradual sort of way. End Quote accessed 2007-07-16 We are definably more productive when we use the computer. Depending on one's ability to type, one may be able to type faster than another could speak or be able to write out something on a piece of paper. Search engines exist on your personal computer and on the Internet where you can find a document containing the phrase, “2005 tax receipts” if audited by the IRS, or under google.com, “2005 filing options”. If you know how to save your files on your hard drive, you will be able to find things more efficiently.

Introduction Skepticism

By using e-mail we take the personality of handwriting and the personal touch of taking the time to write a letter. By sending e-cards, it's not something that takes a lot of time to pick out and find the right one for that person, and that occasion. Everything seems to be too easy, and too easily we find whatever is available. Some people are just so used to using paper that they're stuck in their old ways of thinking. It could take years of training to teach these people how to re-think of how they write things down, and think of other ways to do things not seen possible as they did before. In the independent film, Pi (π), the lead character has his computer print out the number he thought held the key to everything he's been searching for. If the computer did not print out that information, it would have, been deleted, and lost forever. Likewise, tangibility is a key part of having a paper document. Start Quote From: http://www.cftech.org/page14974.cfm Negatives: 1. There is no write feature once a document is imaged. Therefore, you can’t update with additional information. 2. Unless you purchase a very high-end software product, the quality will not be as good as pulling a document and copying it or pulling it out of an electronic file and printing it. 3. Imaging information is time-consuming. 4. Depending on the type of software being used, you may or may not be able to easily email or fax imaged documents from your computer. End Quote accessed 2007-07-16 Start Quote From: http://www.productivity501.com/paperless-office/42/ Our society is a long way from really being paperless, but there are definitely some things I can do to have less paper on my desk. Some of it just comes down to the fact that I’m not completely comfortable going with paper copies of things like bank statements. End Quote accessed 2007-07-16