17.. 18.. 19.. 20! Happy New Year!
Well, what a year. Or decade. Looking back further than a decade… 20 years ago the world was going to end as we rolled into 2000, aka Y2K. We weren’t sure how technology would handle a new century. Would it continue to work? Would our computers crash? Would we be back to pen and paper only where paper was like gold? Realistically thinking it probably wouldn’t have happened, but at that point people were only sending 35 text messages per month. Obviously we survived the year 2000 and by the time 2010 rolled around everyone knew how to text. So much so that people were averaging 193,000 text messages per second. Talk about technological advances… 193,000. Per. Second. I’m sure that number is now obliterated in 2019.
After 2010 the technological advancements kept coming. TV’s are flat, phones are now essentially mini computers, vehicles have bluetooth capabilities (no more bag phone), social media is the new local news source and we have things like imessage and facebook messenger. How far we have come in just a short time is amazing if you think about it. But, looking back from then until now there is one thing that remains a constant. One thing that is sustainable and gives back nearly 4x what it takes from the earth… PAPER.
Sure, paper has become more environmentally friendly over the years and there are more and more recycled content options offered, but the physical element of paper is still there and more relevant than ever. You could almost say paper is making a comeback. Hard to call something a comeback when it never really left though. Paper was always used in daily needs or required instances at the workplace during our major digital push on society, but the “extra mile” usage of paper seriously declined during those first years. The thank you’s, the elaborate mailing pieces and the others. I mean in college I received a digital wedding invite. Had I worked at a paper company when that happened I’d probably have said no. But, I didn’t and this was 10 years ago. Now though, boom. We have designers doing wedding invitations, mailing pieces that look like a piece of artwork, schools are contemplating removing electronic devices for teaching purposes and more. Paper is huge again. People love it. I mean, we have digital campaigns during the Super Bowl supporting the paper and packaging industry. You really can’t get much bigger than the Super Bowl for promoting paper in a digital world.
Not really sure how to end my ramble on paper because I kind of do it a lot - you can ask my wife. I guess the one big thing about paper over digital is this… Digital communication is an amazing ability. To send something to someone hundreds of miles away and have them receive it instantly is just fascinating regardless of what capacity it is used in. Its convenient, user friendly and efficient. But, with all of that there is still one thing it doesn’t have that paper does in my opinion and that is purpose. Paper has a purpose. Everything digital is an option, but paper… paper is the one thing that is there when all digital options fail.
You can always mail a letter or note. It may not get there in seconds, but in most cases for personal use I bet the memory of that one piece of paper will last longer than any digital message you receive.
Look forward to chatting about how awesome paper is again in 2030!
Happy 2020!