Dreams of a paperless office
Paper as a means of conveying information and authority is so widely used that it is quite hard to imagine a world without it. Sorting, handling, storing, writing on and juggling with paper is the largest industry in Britain, employing thousands of clerks, typists, bookkeepers and executives.
Paper is very, very important to us. But it is equally important to understand that it is not the material itself which occupies such an exalted status in our society, but the information that is inscribed on it. Any other material on which information could be inscribed would, in theory, be equally suitable.
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The disadvantages of paper as a transfer medium are that it is bulky, difficult to handle mechanically, and, as anyone who has searched for a document in a filing system knows, it takes time to find any particular piece of information. Also the cost of paper is quite high.
We are, however, getting very near to the point where the whole work of an office engaged in routine tasks could be mechanised, although whether or not it would pay to do so is another matter. If we choose to reduce our paper usage it is essential that office routines should be replanned to fit in with the capabilities of the new forms of machinery that are being developed.
Although the electronic office may never replace all procedures currently using paper it is certain that machines will one day have a tremendous effect on the way we work, if only because they will make people think again about how an office is organised. Once this inevitable process begins, much dead wood can be removed and new practices introduced.
An office without paper is both a pleasant dream for some and a nightmare for others, but there is no doubt that from now on in, paper will become less and less relevant to our daily working lives.
From The New 杏吧原创, 13 June 1957