electronrun.com

I started writing this post because of two events:

1. My time in the Euroshop 2008 show, that I document in photos in part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.
2. After the Euroshop 2008 show, I came across a very interesting article in ReadWriteWeb that more or less argues that paper is not necessary any more.

So let’s put things in perspective. In all shows I had been before, there were two choices to have documentation:

1. Get paper catalogues and leaflets of any kind from stands of interest in order to look at the relative information later. I have tried it and it has been very bad for my back… Also it has spoiled the experience of being present at the show, as carrying things around is not the most enjoyable task…
2. Ask an exhibitor to post the information. In this case, if the exhibitor did not smell business it was highly likely that anything would get sent, as it involved a considerable cost. In the case the information was sent, it was not necessarily useful and on top of the wasted paper -that had been unfortunately printed in advance anyway- the involved transport required energy, in plain words unnecessary pollution…

Luckily, the above problems have now been circumvented by web sites that are already there to check out, and emails that are sent after shows to remind visitors about what they have seen and talked about during their visit, in order to explore business opportunities.

From my personal experience, I assure you that young and old businessmen from all over the world are now well accustomed to the new comforts and have come to dislike huge quantities of paper. Those questions were quite common at the Euroshop 2008 show:

• Can you send me some company information by email?
• Is your technical catalogue large or heavy?
• I do not like to carry much paper around, can you email me the information?

I have not met a single person without an email address and very few businesses without a web site -those mainly being one person businesses. So where does paper stand as a business medium?

By all indications, not very far from extinction! People realise that large quantities of paper based information simply become unmanageable. It is much easier to have a large hard disc and keep everything in order there, close by at all times. When information is required, email is always available for information requests or any type of business communication.

Admittedly, quite a few people still use electronic communication in a clumsy and hasty way, but things are getting better. And if email is becoming unmanageable due to volume, does not the same apply to traditional post? In the later case, people have simply stopped bothering. The only documents still worth printing are invoices and delivery notes, largely as a result of legislation… In a world market with large distances and all time zones, the absence of paper is a huge advantage that is pushing paper elimination for even local transactions.

Internal business procedures are in an even more advanced state. ERP systems can do miracles for paper elimination. Smaller businesses depend more on the level of their few users, but when most of us become so accustomed to electronic banking, barriers fall quickly, more quickly than we realise. I keep reminding a friend that if his children do not learn English and do not become accustomed to computers and modern communication, then their future professional progress is uncertain… Now I am having second thoughts about English -it might one day get replaced by Chinese, who knows?- but about the computer part it is a certainty and I do not take it back…

Mobile telephones, smartphones and small mobile computers are going to further accelerate the paper-reducing trend. In underdeveloped areas of the world they even start to virtually give people the chance to education -OLPC and competitors- and doing business, things impossible up to now since classical infrastructure is probably never going to reach many areas.

Saying this, I cannot deny that reading a book or looking at a nicely printed photo collection are still unforgettable experiences. But this brings us to the issue of e-paper, a subject I do not wish to touch here, but certainly in a future post.

So how do you do business? How much paper do you use? Do you love/hate fax? How comfortable do you feel with paperless business in general?