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What Happened to the Paperless Office?
Anneliese Olson
June 28, 2007
My last entry talked about our Print 2.0 strategy, and “unlocking the power of print.” What did you think? Have you found your key to unlocking your business’ ability to print?
I used to manage the market research group here at HP. We spent a lot of time and money designing research projects and buying 3rd party research to assess and determine market trends. Fifteen years ago, we did not have Microsoft Outlook or other tools to move documents around easily. We’d print out a survey, fax it to our vendor with our edits, and go back and forth like this throughout the edit process. I’d have to take huge file folders with me around the world to look at documents in hardcopy format so I could do revision control. The process consisted of faxing a document or sending a disc to each other, both of which were very time consuming. I had always hoped that I would be able to carry around less paper.
Today, I carry less paper around with me, no question. However, I still print a lot of things. There is static information that I prefer to read on a page vs. on a screen. There is dynamic information that I use but then need to print and use again when it is updated. So I may be carrying a lighter load in my briefcase, but the paper and documents are still floating around in my day-to-day work environment.
People have talked about “paperless” offices for many years now, but most have come to the realization that it’s not happening anytime soon. There is way more information now due to the Internet and everyone’s ability to access content. Also, many people prefer to print, especially anything that requires in-depth reading (research reports, legal briefs, fictional stories, etc). And then there are things you need to print and take with you (your boarding pass, MapQuest directions, or the proposal printed in color to handout to clients).
Applications often “unlock” printing for people. Being able to see your information, print it wherever you are, and have it available in electronic and hardcopy format is important for most jobs and businesses.
I’m curious to know your thoughts on printing in today’s business environment. What things do you print the most? What applications have “unlocked” printing for you and your business? What things would you like to print today that you can’t?
category: printing
Latest page update: made by kate_sheofsky
, Aug 23 2007, 11:58 AM EDT
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small business marketing tools
small business printing
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