Electronic libraries. and paperless office -Reply

[Steve Cramer]

New technology and new products are not very important
in the development of the paperless office. More important
is *changing the way people work, organize, and learn*.
It's much easier to develop new technology than to
develop new ways of living to utilize that new technology.

Look at the example of "smart cars" and "smart roads" --
the cars run the same way (internal combustion) over the
same land-gobbling, asphalt-freeways, you just have traffic
monitoring systems and computer-controlled cars
involved. There's little talk of re-designing cities or
developing more practical mass transportation.

Anyway, the choice is *not* between paper and computer
moniters. The future information displays system will be a
combination of printing and computer monitors:
electronic-ink, or e-ink, which combines the portability,
readability, and (hopefully) durability of paper with the
storage capacity and networking capability of computers.

Steve Cramer
Davenport College
Holland, Michigan USA
scramer at davenport.edu