Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
The factor I've seen make the most difference in whether someone prints things is having two monitors. People often need to compare things, so they print a copy they can reference while looking at something else. When they get two monitors, they stop doing that.
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Somebody get that guy a widescreen monitor!
I've seen some of all of it in my office-based career(s)... and as someone who spent a number of years showing people how they could take advantage of their computers and networks and do things electronically, for production and quality improvements over paper, I've seen how hard a sell such a seemingly no-brainer idea can be.
Today, I often go to meetings where my co-workers will have each printed out the latest e-mail about the meeting and brought it with them. I put the pertinent info on my PDA and bring that instead, whenever possible, plugged into my hard keyboard and ready to run. And I get plenty of surprised and confused looks.
In many cases, I've discovered that the turning point tends to be the obvious one: Money. When a new system earns the company more profit... when it allows them to the same job at lower cost... when it significantly cuts internal expenses... that's when some bean-counter points his thumb up, the boss says, "I like it. Let's do it," and people are essentially pushed into it.
That's why, even before the upcoming generation goes digital, existing offices will find themselves finally converting when the abacus tells them to. And as paper prices rise, recycling can mean fees per pound, and not recycling can mean corporate fines, that could happen sooner than some of us suspect.