Not a Paperless Society -- Yet
Bonnie Alba
January 12, 2007
As early as the 1970s, the introduction of computers and word-processing programs into the work environment was heralded as a “labor-saving device.” The future was here.
Does anyone remember? In the late 1970s the societal-workplace computer age arrived. Some of the words associated with this new innovation to change our lives were “simpler” “faster” and that dubious slogan “We will become a paperless society.” Empty words. But full of paper. I still remember “Work and play will become simpler” and “we won’t have to work as hard.”
Yes, in some areas that has occurred. Thirty-five years have passed, we still have paper and it appears we are working harder than ever. The speed with which new and innovative products arrive in the marketplace is making it even more difficult to keep up with.
Currently there is a rash of lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies by workers and retirees who are suing because they received no overtime pay when their work changed and increased. Due to what? That wonderful technology: Computers, e-mail, reports.
Their work weeks increased from the normal 40-45 hours to as many as 65 hours per week. One employee claimed that her boss asserted the right to contact her at any time, via e-mail or cell phone, even on her vacations.
One astute woman, Schaefer LaRose, noted that her work weeks, normally about 45 hours, had lengthened as computers, e-mail and cell phones became extra tools of the workload. She stated, “Those things were supposed to simplify our lives. They didn’t.”
She’s right. Working many years as a Secretary-Administrative Assistant, I can attest to that fact. During those early years of transition, the typewriter and computer remained side-by-side in offices nationwide. You had to have both until software programs were developed to handle all the government and business forms which could not be completed on a computer.
Another thing struck me. The differences between typewriter and computer word processing resulted in an increase in the paper-print load, not a decrease. I saw it up close and personal in typing and printing out military and civilian evaluation reports. With a typewriter-initiated report, the evaluator could and was allowed to correct, initial typos and make additional comments in pen and ink including the carbons. With computer formatting and printing, the striving for a perfect report produced more reprints, correcting typos and editing---sometimes rewriting reports 10-20 times---more paper wasted. The Goal: Perfection.
In all the time wasted in striving for a perfect evaluation, the appearance of the form became more important than the actual employee and his evaluation. We misused time, wasted taxpayers money and lengthened the hours of workers without compensation.
Another example: I was involved in the computer preparation of a speech for the Secretary of the Army to be given before the congressional Budget (Defense) Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill. I’ll never forget the proofing, the editing, the rewrites, the constant attention given to infinite reprinting---probably a ream of paper was used just on that one speech. Multiply that by all speeches, all formats, all forms and reports and you get the message.
Paper files still exist don’t they? But the bigger question is: Will we ever reach the end of paper useage? I don’t think so---it’s not just a tradition or a limit on humans capabilities. It’s part of human nature to “hold something in our hands.”
For instance, it still bothers me that the checks I write each month are not returned to me. Was that because of habit, what I was accustomed to? Maybe. But I have no way of knowing that my checks were received and posted until my bank statement arrives in my mailbox. Don’t even mention on-line banking; my daughter-in-law swears by it. She also files their taxes electonically which I just can’t bring myself to do.
Paper files are still important. People still like something they can grasp in their hands to view, read, contemplate and reflect on. But the bigger question is: how will the young crowd growing up in our techological, computer-driven society live their lives --- possibly without paper clutter? Another question is how far will this ongoing innovative technology develop, spilling over into control of people’s lives---and what will this do to our humankind nature? How will it affect us globally?
In many ways, I believe we are on a destructive path to and experiencing a pre-Borg style of living where nothing is private and nothing is sacred. Labor-saving tools don’t always lead to humans experiencing quality lives.
Don’t know what a Borg is? Stay Tuned!
2006 Bonnie Alba
Does anyone remember? In the late 1970s the societal-workplace computer age arrived. Some of the words associated with this new innovation to change our lives were “simpler” “faster” and that dubious slogan “We will become a paperless society.” Empty words. But full of paper. I still remember “Work and play will become simpler” and “we won’t have to work as hard.”
Yes, in some areas that has occurred. Thirty-five years have passed, we still have paper and it appears we are working harder than ever. The speed with which new and innovative products arrive in the marketplace is making it even more difficult to keep up with.
Currently there is a rash of lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies by workers and retirees who are suing because they received no overtime pay when their work changed and increased. Due to what? That wonderful technology: Computers, e-mail, reports.
Their work weeks increased from the normal 40-45 hours to as many as 65 hours per week. One employee claimed that her boss asserted the right to contact her at any time, via e-mail or cell phone, even on her vacations.
One astute woman, Schaefer LaRose, noted that her work weeks, normally about 45 hours, had lengthened as computers, e-mail and cell phones became extra tools of the workload. She stated, “Those things were supposed to simplify our lives. They didn’t.”
She’s right. Working many years as a Secretary-Administrative Assistant, I can attest to that fact. During those early years of transition, the typewriter and computer remained side-by-side in offices nationwide. You had to have both until software programs were developed to handle all the government and business forms which could not be completed on a computer.
Another thing struck me. The differences between typewriter and computer word processing resulted in an increase in the paper-print load, not a decrease. I saw it up close and personal in typing and printing out military and civilian evaluation reports. With a typewriter-initiated report, the evaluator could and was allowed to correct, initial typos and make additional comments in pen and ink including the carbons. With computer formatting and printing, the striving for a perfect report produced more reprints, correcting typos and editing---sometimes rewriting reports 10-20 times---more paper wasted. The Goal: Perfection.
In all the time wasted in striving for a perfect evaluation, the appearance of the form became more important than the actual employee and his evaluation. We misused time, wasted taxpayers money and lengthened the hours of workers without compensation.
Another example: I was involved in the computer preparation of a speech for the Secretary of the Army to be given before the congressional Budget (Defense) Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill. I’ll never forget the proofing, the editing, the rewrites, the constant attention given to infinite reprinting---probably a ream of paper was used just on that one speech. Multiply that by all speeches, all formats, all forms and reports and you get the message.
Paper files still exist don’t they? But the bigger question is: Will we ever reach the end of paper useage? I don’t think so---it’s not just a tradition or a limit on humans capabilities. It’s part of human nature to “hold something in our hands.”
For instance, it still bothers me that the checks I write each month are not returned to me. Was that because of habit, what I was accustomed to? Maybe. But I have no way of knowing that my checks were received and posted until my bank statement arrives in my mailbox. Don’t even mention on-line banking; my daughter-in-law swears by it. She also files their taxes electonically which I just can’t bring myself to do.
Paper files are still important. People still like something they can grasp in their hands to view, read, contemplate and reflect on. But the bigger question is: how will the young crowd growing up in our techological, computer-driven society live their lives --- possibly without paper clutter? Another question is how far will this ongoing innovative technology develop, spilling over into control of people’s lives---and what will this do to our humankind nature? How will it affect us globally?
In many ways, I believe we are on a destructive path to and experiencing a pre-Borg style of living where nothing is private and nothing is sacred. Labor-saving tools don’t always lead to humans experiencing quality lives.
Don’t know what a Borg is? Stay Tuned!
2006 Bonnie Alba