I definitely like the idea of a paper-less office but i also do believe that we have a long way to go. Americans and the entire world are still paper thirsty and love to use it at all times. Teachers are somewhat slowing down on their use of paper at my college but they still print out a mass amount of handouts. We most ceirtainly have the technology to have a paperless office but as Ashley stated we don't like to put our dependence on a machine that could malfuntion and their goes all your files. It will be interesting to see if and when this comes true. Maybe it will be in the next 5 years maybe in the next 3 decaades.. only time will tell

A paperless office is good in theory, but perhaps not reasonable in practice. Many people are extremely reluctant to forgo paper just because it is solid and tangible. This goes beyond the fear of electrical failure; it is a matter of preference. Certain prints are now more popular online, such as photographs, newspapers, and mail. Yet, many other prints remain more popular as hard copies for reasons of ease and comfort. Retrieving a folded sheet of paper from your pocket is easier than setting up your laptop, praying for Internet access, and then browsing through your cluttered inbox.

I see how the paperless office can work but I for one like having paper as to carrying around things like iPhone, laptop, or pda. Most laptop are far to heavy to carry around to everyday needs, too expensive to buy such a good light laptop ($1500 for a laptop that I can just snap into two?) or just silly to carry a 9 inch monitor netbook. Now pda/iPhone might be an interesting idea but you most likely won't be interested in using such devices unless you are the business man/woman that is always on the go and gotten used to staring down on a small screen while zooming in and out.
As a business also forgoing paper copies can cripple reputation or hinder a business deal by seeming not having such luxury of hard print paper. Meetings do happen in slide shows and images by computers but when it comes down to the details, they have a print out of the slides and the key points for their clients and/or investors to give a reminder of the meeting and also allow them to feel the company cares for their business.
What be a cool idea is something like Kindle but you can take notes and such… much like the tablets that seems to be out of style.

I see the paperless office trend taking off as the percent of people who entered the workforce after the advent of personal computers increases. A majority of the American workforce today did not grow up with computers, getting their news online, communicating via AIM, etc. These same people are uncomfortable absorbing all their information via digital document. In the next few years it will be easier to convince a younger generation of workers to engage in a paperless office.

Comfort and ease of use are important, but so is functionality; you can only do so much when you distrubute and tinker with paper documents. When your office's entire range of papers/assignments/plans/schedules are disseminated digitally myriad options of sorting and searching for documents, visual enhancements, distributing with a variety of personalized privacy settings, and personal customization of reading format will be available. Options and enhancements are always valued, and these are things a paperless, or digital office will provide in abundance. Younger, more tech-savvy generations will jump on the rapidly improving technology of things like the Kindle and PDAs.

There are compliance regulations in Medical, Law etc. for certain documents. Most individuals and corporation don't know the latest advancements that have been made in Paperless Document Solutions.

There is a company that we use – ( United Imaging ) that provides software services to automate scanning,. archive, document security, document OCR , emailing, to organize and instant retrieval. It uses a simple Wizard Interface.

I know this company even comes out and does a free assessment. They are in Los Angels CA.
You should give these experts a call 800-999-0159

I agree with you on the tablet idea and I believe this is something we will eventually more closer to in the future. For now, as Imran says, we are just so reliant on paper. However, one day we may find ourselves so buried beneath paper that paperless offices are the only way out.

Agreed, Adam! I just went with my father last Thursday when he received his physical check-up and his doctor's office, which maintains mostly baby boomer generation patients, has gone almost completely digital. The previous (and tedious) paper work he used to fill out is now on a digital touch pad format with more in-depth questioning, allowing the doctor to completely evaluate his health. Because digital platforms, like this blog, can be more easily updated rather than reprinting hundreds of forms, going digital allows us to be a completely current society. And, we are leaving behind thousands of pounds of paper. But I will say that some of the baby boomer generation seems very disgruntled at using touch pads, which corresponds with your point on younger and more tech-savvy generations using the paperless idea.

Here's an interesting link on organizing your paperless office – http://www.productivity501.com/components-of-a-pa...

The problem is that many people just feel comfortable with their paper books and paper calenders, etc; the feel and ease on the eyes is something that takes adjustment not to have with digital documents. This is probably the main argument against "going paperless," and it will be a difficult task to surpass this obstacle in attempting to get the world to reduce deforestation.