Why a ‘paperless world’ still hasn’t happened
Anyone who thinks the world hasn&#x27;t gone paperless, really needs to recall how it used to be in the 80s and 90s.<p>- We don&#x27;t send physical letters in envelopes anymore, we send emails.<p>- We don&#x27;t send documents via fax or courier, we send them digitally.<p>- We don&#x27;t apply for jobs by mailing in resumes, we apply online.<p>- We don&#x27;t file taxes or other applications using snail mail, we send them online.<p>- We don&#x27;t receive statements and invoices in our mailbox, we get them in our inbox.<p>- We don&#x27;t send photocopies, we send pictures.<p>- We don&#x27;t use checks or even currency notes, we use credit cards.<p>- We don&#x27;t read physical newspapers, we read articles online via HN.<p>- We don&#x27;t read physical books, we read e-books.<p>Yes yes, I know people still do some of the above things. But the quantity of paper-use for the above has fallen precipitously, and it&#x27;s falling even further everyday.<p>I still use pen-and-paper occasionally to sketch out my thoughts in an unstructured way, and I do like sending letters as a gesture of my extended effort. But for any kind of business dealing or inter-person interaction, paper is on life-support, and is going to be DOA in another decade or two. And everytime I think of paper statements and requests for photocopies to be mailed in, all I can say is good riddance.