Do computers save paper or waste even more?

[Jara sang]

I say they waste even more paper than before. Think about. Everybody has a computer with a printer. Also, computers were touted as "friendly" to the environment because they would eventually replace peoples need to read printed material. Who actually reads entire novels on their computers anyway? If you do, you probably won't be reading much of anything else in the future, as I am sure your eyesight will be shot to hell. Though technologically amazing, computers have fallen short of their environmental promises.

[oblivious]

1. Well, they saved on newspapers, magazines and letters, at least.

That's a lot of paper. But no, not books.

[kliljedahl]

2. I agree, waste more

If somebody wants to check a data sheet, they never read it on their computer, they always need it printed, & if there's a meeting, multiple copies are made.


Keith’s Barbeque Central

[trotsky]

3. I think overall they've saved.

Encyclopedias and reference materials, if nothing else!

[imenja]

4. definitely waste more

Editing is easier, so one prints multiple drafts, which uses more paper. In the days when you had to retype something, you just let it go.
I bet computers save on postage though.

[Toucano]

5. We waste more.

In how many households do you think you would find a case of paper in 20 years ago?

We used to have loose leaf notebook paper, a couple of legal pads, and the essential scratch paper.

Now people buy 8-1/2 X 11" 24lb paper with a 92 brightness rating by the case.

I especially hate it when you print from your browser and it uses three pages, but the third page is just the header and footer. And that's "printer-friendly". LOL! More like paper and ink manufacturer friendly!

[leveymg]

7. What is it with that extra page?

I've noticed that too. Struck me as sheer waste, kinda like those forward slanting headlight surrounds on '50s American cars. What about those Standby lights that never go off on some computers and CD players? Trash creators, gas wasters, and kilowatt-hour makers.

Someone should put together a list of these obvious scams and take the bastards to court. Oops, sorry, forgot about another scam - tort reform.

:bounce:

[Toucano]

8. I wish I understood it.

It's not as bad with Firefox, I think. Still, I've started doing a print preview first and ditching the last page if it's a dud.

Sometimes I forget, though.

[Jara sang]

10. Excellent point

I hate the "third page" too, but I've never thought about it from the point of view that the paper companies are makin bucks off it.

[ashling]

6. I do the night audit at a local hotel

It consists of printing out reports, most of which are redundant. Then I print out reports to have on hand in case the computer goes down.

[gratuitous]

9. Well, there are computers and there are users

For people who are comfortable using their computers, I think they save paper. However, in the law office I work in, there's a whole team of people who must have the computer record, a hard copy record, and a printout for every person on the team. Talk about a waste of paper! And then this same team features one of the attorneys who is forever harping on the need for the office to go paperless when it's his team that's in the vanguard of wasting paper. Go figure.

I remember many, many years ago while working for the state Department of Justice. Someone had printed out an employment record on an obligor, an extremely ephemeral document. As soon as another quarter has passed, the printout becomes outdated, and another one would have to be run. Usually these printouts were looked over by whoever ordered it, and then recycled, but this one made it into a file somehow on its green and white tractor-fed paper. This was bad enough, because it was taking up unnecessary room in an already overcrowded file. But the topper for me was that the detachable holes on one side of the printout had begun to tear off the printout, and someone had gone to the extreme trouble of meticulously taping them back on.

Computers can save a whole bunch of paper. Users, however, are prone to wasting it by the ream.

[Kitka]

12. Our law firm….

Scans in all our documents and archives them on disc. We don’t print draft copy any longer either, we do our edits via e-mail and draft folders. You’re right, if you use the technology, you can eliminate a lot of waste. It’s getting people to let go of the paper copies that is hard. We’ve finally done it after years of trying!

[lectrobyte]

11. I actually read novels on a computer. Also lots of articles and other

material. I used to subscribe to a lot more magazines, but the internet has made that concept somewhat obsolete. So, I'd have to say they save paper.

[Roland99]

13. I stopped printing long ago.

Only pictures and stuff the kids need to do for homework.


BTW, ever notice how on Star Trek there was NO PAPER?