Page 16 - index
P. 16
RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS
Why does the future take so long to arrive?
In late 1971, a computer engineer named Ray Tom- Why can’t we let go? What will it take to ‘kill’ analogue
linson sent the first email message. It was ten let- systems off once and for all?
ters long (QWERTYUIOP) and he was probably
oblivious to the fact that hitting ‘send’ would gain Technology is not ‘yet’ ready
him entry into the history books. Tomlinson’s inven-
tion changed the course of communication forever The tools for going paperless are both accessible and
– usurping technology such as the fax. economical; you can easily scan a key document and
save it in PDF format; e-books can be downloaded and
205 billion emails are sent every day, and this will read through myriad digital devices; and receiving all of
reach over 246 billion by the end of 2019. Yet, the
email hasn’t yet usurped the ‘paper trail’ and truly your bills via email is a cinch. But while this technology
paperless systems are few and far between. has come a long way, it still has an uphill journey to be
truly ‘ready’.
Paper stubbornly remains a feature of our everyday
lives. Decades later, the paperless office is being called Paper does not need reboots, passwords, or charging.
a ‘30-year old pipe dream’ and the United States Postal Paper notebooks do not ‘crash’. Bic pens are ready to
Service still processes and delivers 509 million pieces of write, whether you have 4G connectivity or not. With
mail each day. There is no doubt that the reliance on paper, there is no system to learn and shortcut keys to
paper is decreasing, but we are still years away from memorize. Alexa needs to be plugged in, while Siri,
actually achieving the paperless nirvana we were prom- Cortana and Google Now can’t doodle.
ised.
The transition of paper to electronic document has not
If paper is stubbornly sticking around, what does this solved the issue of content chaos. We are still trying to
mean for other technologies that are supposed to eradi- remember which folder we saved that contract in.
cate the problems of the past and deliver to us utopian When the system fails, which is unpredicted, we easily
efficiency and productivity? fall back on paper and legacy paper processes. In addi-
tion, the reality for some organizations is that there are
Is it a harbinger for all things ‘paperless’, such as paper- multiple touchpoints in the workflow that remain ana-
less money? Bitcoin (the world’s first digital currency) logue. Coupled to this, many have said that the practi-
claims that it will change finance in the same way the cality of paper is hard to beat on project sites; it is dis-
web changed publishing – yet, we have had credit cards posable, easily replaced and you can edit (using a red
for decades, and many still carry cash. pen) as you please. Decades have passed, and the
use of paper still feels natural and inherent.
16 Asian eMarketing - September 2016 - Search Analytics & Search Engine Optimization
Why does the future take so long to arrive?
In late 1971, a computer engineer named Ray Tom- Why can’t we let go? What will it take to ‘kill’ analogue
linson sent the first email message. It was ten let- systems off once and for all?
ters long (QWERTYUIOP) and he was probably
oblivious to the fact that hitting ‘send’ would gain Technology is not ‘yet’ ready
him entry into the history books. Tomlinson’s inven-
tion changed the course of communication forever The tools for going paperless are both accessible and
– usurping technology such as the fax. economical; you can easily scan a key document and
save it in PDF format; e-books can be downloaded and
205 billion emails are sent every day, and this will read through myriad digital devices; and receiving all of
reach over 246 billion by the end of 2019. Yet, the
email hasn’t yet usurped the ‘paper trail’ and truly your bills via email is a cinch. But while this technology
paperless systems are few and far between. has come a long way, it still has an uphill journey to be
truly ‘ready’.
Paper stubbornly remains a feature of our everyday
lives. Decades later, the paperless office is being called Paper does not need reboots, passwords, or charging.
a ‘30-year old pipe dream’ and the United States Postal Paper notebooks do not ‘crash’. Bic pens are ready to
Service still processes and delivers 509 million pieces of write, whether you have 4G connectivity or not. With
mail each day. There is no doubt that the reliance on paper, there is no system to learn and shortcut keys to
paper is decreasing, but we are still years away from memorize. Alexa needs to be plugged in, while Siri,
actually achieving the paperless nirvana we were prom- Cortana and Google Now can’t doodle.
ised.
The transition of paper to electronic document has not
If paper is stubbornly sticking around, what does this solved the issue of content chaos. We are still trying to
mean for other technologies that are supposed to eradi- remember which folder we saved that contract in.
cate the problems of the past and deliver to us utopian When the system fails, which is unpredicted, we easily
efficiency and productivity? fall back on paper and legacy paper processes. In addi-
tion, the reality for some organizations is that there are
Is it a harbinger for all things ‘paperless’, such as paper- multiple touchpoints in the workflow that remain ana-
less money? Bitcoin (the world’s first digital currency) logue. Coupled to this, many have said that the practi-
claims that it will change finance in the same way the cality of paper is hard to beat on project sites; it is dis-
web changed publishing – yet, we have had credit cards posable, easily replaced and you can edit (using a red
for decades, and many still carry cash. pen) as you please. Decades have passed, and the
use of paper still feels natural and inherent.
16 Asian eMarketing - September 2016 - Search Analytics & Search Engine Optimization
