Why The Paperless Office Failed To Arrive

Despite the promise of a paperless world, the digital revolution actually caused our paper consumption to skyrocket. Humans still prefer reading physical documents to process complex information.

When computers first arrived, experts predicted offices would soon be entirely digital. Instead, the ease of printing documents from personal computers led to a massive increase in total paper usage. Today, many people still print reports to proofread or mark them up by hand because it helps them focus. The paperless office remains an elusive dream because our brains often find physical pages easier to navigate than digital files.