(NAPSA)—It’s comforting to know that Bill Gates isn’t always right. In 1998, the Microsoft founder predicted that we’d all be working in near paperless offices within “only a few years.” And yet today, about a decadelater, wouldn’t you know it...the printed pageisstill very much a part of the work world. In fact, judging by the results of a new survey, even techies refuse to give up the printing habit—viewing it as a “security blanket.” Why do people still prefer paper over pixels? According to Abigail J. Sellen and Richard H. R. Harper, co-authors of the book “The Myth of the Paperless Office,” it’s because paperlets us do things that computers don’t. “With paper, I can pick it up, write on it, erase it, quickly flip through it, take it apart and spread it out, tear off bits of it and tape it to the wall and hand it off to others,” the authors explain. “And though computers provide their own unique affordances—searching, linking, storing, remote access, spellcheck, etc.—[they] don’t compensate for the loss of those provided by paper.” The survey of IT professionals, which was conducted by IDG/peworld.com for OKI Printing Solutions, found respondents expected to print about the same amount or more in the future as they do today. Other findings include: Paper Cut? Despite falk of a paperless office, workers stillprefer printers andpaper. a90% Workers who said their business printer was indispensable or important ____ 79% Workers who prefer to review printed documents Li 22% Workers who expect to print less in the future Ninety percent of respondents considered their business printer to be indispensable or important. Only 1 percent said their printer isn’t importantat all. Seventy-eight percent of respondentsstill preferred to review printed documents, whether in combination with reviewing on screen or alone. “People place more trust in a tangible document versus what they view on a computer screen,” says Candice Dobra, vice president for product marketing at Oki Data Americas, a leading business printing solutions specialist. “Despite a migration towards the paperlessoffice, people still have a strong affinity for their printer. The affordability of high-quality, in-house printing has encouraged businesses to embrace printing as an indispensable part of business culture.” For more information, visit www.okiprintingsolutions.com/us.
