Why an old reliable has dampened all the techno-excitement

Paper, paper everywhere

David Winch, UN

Hands up, everyone who works in a “paperless office”. OK, OK: how about an office with less paper than you used to have?
— Thought not.

Despite all the predictions in the 1980s and ‘90s by the futurists, the techno-guys, the dot-commers, here we are in 2003, still awash in paper. It is piled as high and deep at the UN as anywhere else. Well, maybe higher. And after all the hopes of the Greens, the tree-lovers and the one-world online dreamers, this trend shows no signs of abating. The paperless office remains a mirage.

The Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, Montreal-based mouthpiece for a huge export industry, points out that the world-wide web, computers and the online world in general are quickly increasing the use of paper: “Europe and North America will experience growth [in paper use] as the use of computers is doubling the number of print documents generated every 3-4 years. […] Embracing the e-world of computers and Internet has intensified our love of hard copy.”

Everyone wants to download and print out what they see on the WWW. To read on dull old paper. — Why?

No plug needed

Some reasons are simple. We like the look and feel of paper. Printed matter — ink on cellulose – is inert. It stays still. By contrast, computer screens are hard on the eyes; electrons are constantly moving about, never in exactly the same position from second to second.

Paper has special tactile qualities; it is pliable, light, resistant, portable, easy to deal with. It feels permanent and dependable. A book does not depend on a capricious switch or a hard-to-find plug, and you can stand on it if you need to reach high shelves. Try that with a PC!

Marshall McLuhan, the best writer ever on culture and technology, noted in both The Gutenberg Galaxy and Understanding Media that paper and printed matter foster a sense of permanence and solidity. A side-effect of Gutenberg’s printing press was the illusion of literary immortality: words are solidly reproduced (and reproduced) into infinity by the printing press. Reputations are made and kept forever. Even UN report-writers can fall for this illusion. The bestseller lists today are still full of paperback writers choosing that medium for their grab at the brass ring.

By contrast, read any good e-books lately? They’re out there now, and maybe these little electronic-text-cum- PC combos will catch on one day. But for the moment, judging by their disappointing sales, they are flops — too complicated and newfangled, and maybe too expensive. You can down- load Michael Crichton’s Prey at Amazon.com to run on your Adobe eBook Reader, for example, for $19.95; the paperback Prey costs $16.

Despite the risk of misplacing an expensive toy (hotel cloak rooms and airport departure lounges are full of lost laptops), being able to scroll through a large-print text without having to turn a page, and to adjust the background lighting and colour as needed, could be attractive. And it opens the Dr. Seuss-like prospect of reading an e-book on the F bus. Gee.

Bad hybrids abound

Maybe, like other technical innovations such as the early cars, planes and TVs , the e-book simply has to find its niche in the marketplace. At the moment, though, as one trade publisher notes, there is “an almost total lack of interest from Joe and Jane Consumer”. The shutdown of electronic imprints at both Random House and AOL Time Warner Inc. made e-books look like a dying fashion before the new millennium even began.

Beyond e-books, there are the misguided hybrids – most notably the recent academic trend of posting a scholarly work’s references and foot- notes at a web site. At the end of the (paper) book, the bibliography/end- notes page simply directs the reader

to a web page for further details. But, what if there are technical problems? (That never happens.) What if the web page is closed down when, say, the publisher goes broke? And if you want a permanent copy in hand, you have to print out the notes … on paper.

Sounds a bit upside-down.

Bill Gates apparently forbids paper at Microsoft staff meetings. His 1996 book The Road Ahead forecast all sorts of gadgets heading our way. The book is still available, accompanied by a CD- ROM which includes the full text. Darned if I could figure out, however, if you can read it using Adobe software.

Funny, you never have that problem with a paperback.

The author is an editor at UN Geneva. (dwinch@unog.ch )