People going retro

Old-style cell phones vs smart phones

Typewriters (manual) and pen & paper, including fountain pens and real letters, paper notebooks and paper diaries

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

All across the globe – almost – people are, apparently, going into reverse as far as the use of technology is concerned on many levels, especially in the so-called developed world.

Manual typewriters are rather “in” (again), especially with the hipsters and though not a hipster as such – more a Hippie – I am rather glad that I have held on tight to, and will be now tighter than ever, my old military Remington “Quiet-Riter”.

Old cell phone of the kind before “smart phones” are in high demand too and some of those go for as much as $1000 on the markets in Europe. Makes you wonder what will be next?

And I am glad, therefore, that I have still got one of those older NOKIA cell phones that still works, and for which I have even got a spare battery or two, even though it is already many years old. I am rather sad though that I tossed out some while back two NOKIA 3310 handsets that were still OK but were not on my current network. Oh well, such is life, I guess.

When it comes to writing instruments and the use of paper good pens, such as Parker, Shaeffer and Waterman, etc., the high end ones, are definitely in demand and in the fountain pen department we see a serious resurgence also and here especially with regards to refillable and vintage ones that are really in demand.

A return to the paper notebook of the Moleskine, Leuchtturn 1917 and others is also very much in evidence, as is the return to the paper desk- and pocket diary in favor over the electronic one.

In the main this shift, so to speak, is due, I believe, to the fact that the “always on always connected” is being recognized finally for what it is; unnecessary and also a distraction, and you are not more productive by being under this constant stress; the opposite rather.

While I have the old typewriter sort of as a “stand by” I am a lost faster in what I do using the PC and with writing for the Web the computer is needed, obviously, but notes and calendar are all done on paper and that with a pen, and a fountain pen even at times. Names and addresses and other details of contacts are held in an address book (paper) and on index cards, written with pen on paper, always available and not dependent on any power or Internet.

Not only in the aspects mentioned above people are seemingly going retro but also on other levels and in regards to other things.

Handmade goods are coming back in favor – and hopefully this is more than just a fad and fashion – be this treen goods, baskets or whatever, and it is also seen in other areas.

I believe that, aside from a few other aspects, such as fitness and cost, the reemergence and resurgence of cycling, including and especially for commuting to work and getting from A to B, at least within a certain range of miles, is also one of those “returns to retro”, and especially here the appearance of the single speed bicycle, in the fixed or freewheel version.

The latter is due to the fact, I am sure, that the bicycle with gears, especially with the dérailleur kind of gear shifts, are rather fragile and very difficult to maintain by the user if no access to special tools and equipment. This is the main reason why I, personally, have converted all my bicycles – yes, plural – to single speed, by simply removing the gear shifting “equipment” and setting the chain. I believe in the KISS system.

And, as far as I am concerned, and I am not alone in this, of that I am sure, the KISS system should apply for anything and everything. Oh, and KISS, for the uninitiated, stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. The simpler and easier the better. But industry seems to insist to make things more and more complicated because, so their excuse, people want such sophistication. Well, it would have nothing to do with the fact that they want to make and sell it, would it now?

© 2014

I make no apologies for advocating paper

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Using paper is an anathema for many in the green environmental movement but there is nothing wrong with paper, nothing whatsoever. Not even with paper made from wood pulp.

There is nothing wrong with paper for books or with using it for communications whether as letter or memo. In the same way as there is nothing wrong with wood in the form of products whatsoever. Better than using plastic by a long shot. Wooden kitchen utensils are way more hygienic than are plastic ones as the woods used for making them contain high amounts of antibacterial, antiseptic and antiviral properties.

When it comes to paper we are all being lied to left, right and center by people who either do not know what they are talking about and thus know no better or who have some other vested interest. Paper is not made from (tropical) rainforest trees. They are hardwood and the hardness of the wood simply makes them unsuitable for paper pulp, period!

Most paper is produced from spruce and other conifers specifically grown for this purpose and which are replanted after each felling and thus the entire operation is sustainable. And that ad infinitum. Most of those forests are owned by the paper industry and would not exist were it not for us using paper.

In fact, reducing the use of paper or doing without it all together would mean that the industry would no longer have any use for those forests and they would, in the end, be clear cut and turned over to some other use. And the size of those forests going in the hundreds of thousands of hectares if not more and they would be lost as forests without paper being produced and used. In addition to that millions of jobs would also be put in jeopardy if the industry would cease to exist or even would have to scale down significantly.

Then, when using paper as opposed to computer and the cloud there is the added security factor that, as long as the document is in your possession, in your filing cabinet or safe, or whatever, it is secure. The same cannot be said when held on a computer and especially not when held “in the cloud”.

It is for that reason that the Russian intelligence community is returning to the use of typewriters and paper for sensitive documents and a paper-based circulation list.

It is true that paper can be made from pulp other than wood pulp, such as from hemp – it used to be made from this plant until the early part of the 20th century, as well as from rags, as long as those are from natural fibers. In fact the Chinese, who invented paper, did make that paper from just that stuff, that is to say from rags. And that was all the while the Europeans still used vellum made from animal skins.

However, today most paper is being made from wood-pulp, predominately from coniferous trees such as spruce and fir with the occasional deciduous ones in the form of poplar and birch. Most other deciduous and even coniferous woods are too hard for the creation of pulp for the making of paper.

It is true, however, that acre for acre hemp is much more productive for fiber for the making of paper as is wood but, alas, the growing of hemp (Canabis sativa) is outlawed in most places, or strictly controlled because of the hallucinogenic properties of hemp due to its contents of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In times past, however, it was compulsory – yes, compulsory – for farmers to give over part of the farm to the growing of hemp for making of sails and other canvas products as well as and especially for the making of paper.

The New York Times in 2012 had a great article entitled “In Defense of the Power of Paper” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/jobs/pen-and-paper-still-practical-in-the-office-workstation.htmwhere even Joel Makover of the Green Business Group says that while he uses paper not that much he still prints out reports for proofreading as he finds it easier to read things on paper than on the screen and this, in fact, goes for many people.

© 2014

The comeback of the paper notebook

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Basically declared dead well ahead of time at the advent of mobile devices, the cloud and all that the paper notebook is far from dead and dying. In fact, it is making a definite comeback, as are good quality pens and their use.

The German company Leuchtturm 1917, who has been making good quality notebooks well before Moleskine was ever thought of, reported a 40% increase in notebook sales across the board in 2013 compared to the previous year. And more and more notebooks of the style, upon which Moleskine is based, are being produced by and for other stationery companies.

Seeing that we are, supposedly, in the digital age makes the return of analog ways an interesting phenomenon, not only are paper notebooks, especially good quality ones, all of a sudden cool – a little like the Filofax was in the Sloane Ranger era – but demand for typewriters, and here even and especially manual ones, and here also working vintage ones, also is on the up.

Paper and especially paper notebooks, and analog in general, is far from being dead or at the brink of extinction in the digital age and this is also good so, in my opinion.

The United States has reported that in a number of areas enquiries as to learning the use of a typewriter to such an extent that typewriting schools are opening up (again) even. And most of those enquiries appear to be coming from young people under 28 years of age.

Paper, handwritten, or types, or printed, will be with us for much longer as records and books go than anything stored on hard drives or in “the cloud”.

The British Archives at Kew have been working on the archiving or websites and other material from and on the Internet but had to make a choice as to what to keep and what not to and much of what is on the Internet today, even important information, will not be available for future generations, not even researchers, unlike published books in print, notebooks, journals, and other paper records, whether held in public, university or private “collections”. And we call that advancement?

E-books and cloud storage all sounds good until we look a little deeper into that glass and find that we have been falling for an illusion on a grand scale.

Amazon's Kindle books have had a serious problem once when Amazon decided that people had had their books long enough and deleted them off people's devices. Even though you pay for them you do not, unlike with a physical book, actually own them and you are not permitted to – legally – pass them onto others. It is also not technically possible to do so.

If you store your notes – and some people even upload, using white-lined notebooks, pages of their paper notebooks – and other stuff in the cloud you give, by using the service, the owner of that service, be this Google or whoever, copyright use of everything to use and distribute as they see fit. Sorry, but I do not think so! Thus my notes and other materials stay in hard copy firmly with me (and in digital for on some electronic media in my possession).

It very much appears to be time to rethink digital and find some terra firma again and some sanity. And, it would appear, a fair number of people around the globe are beginning to realize that too.

The paper notebook, the fountain pen and the typewriter are on their way back again already and, so it would appear, not just in a small way.

Paper notebooks have a great deal going for them and they are far from dead, that is for sure. While this may not be to the liking of the proponents and advocates of paperless and may also displease the believers that the production of paper harms the tropical rainforests – which is a fallacy – it is a sign that people appear to be looking for “slower” ways in our maddening modern world. The continuing increase in the same of paper diaries, address books and agendas also proves this trend.

At the same time paper notebooks, the notes contained therein and diaries are always accessible, even on a mountain top or during a power outage and thus beat the electronic equivalent – if there is such a thing as an electronic equivalent to them – hands down (and that goes for real books as well). No batteries, no power cord, no connection, or whatever, to worry about.

Paper is here to stay and is going still very strong indeed and long may it continue.

Personally I cannot function without paper notebooks of some kind and I always have various on the go.

© 2014

Go Green, Go Paperless, Go Jobless

Print and paper have a great environmental story to tell

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Time and again we see the messages that ask – nay, demand even – that we go paperless and it is then referred to as going green. Many people, especially government agencies put on the bottom of an email a text such as “consider the environment before printing this email” or similar.

However, what are the broader implication of the choice to go paperless. First of all it has nothing to do, from the side of the companies and agencies, with saving the environment; it has all to do with money.

On the face of it opting for paperless, seems pretty innocuous to most people, generating the feel-good, albeit unsupported, vibe that corporate marketers intend. But there is a hidden consequence in using unsubstantiated environmental claims to promote paperless communication: potential job loss for millions of people.

Millions of people could lose there jobs? It sounds like a stretch until you consider how many families depend on the paper, print and mailing industries for their livelihoods. The U.S. mailing industry alone supports 8.7 million jobs.

These are people who are directly employed in forest products, paper, printing, direct mail design, mail management and mail delivery jobs, 91.7 percent of them in the private sector.

Include here supply chain jobs, many in small companies that would go belly-up if print and paper go away, and the reach of a collective online click extends even further.

There are also some 10 million family forest owners in America who depend on income from the wood they supply for pulp and paper making.

These folks are the backbone of the print and paper industry, filling the demand for the sustainably grown wood fiber used in printed phone bills, bank statements and other customer communications.

In fact, 60% of the wood used to manufacture paper in the United States comes from these small family owned tree farms.

According to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), family forest owners account for 92 percent of all private forest owners and 62 percent of the private forestland (35 percent of all forestland) in the United States with the average family farm holding at around 25 acres.

Without the demand for sustainably grown wood to make paper and the income it provides, many families would be tempted to sell their land for development, the leading cause of U.S. forest loss, rather than continue to manage it responsibly. This is especially true in today's tough economic times.

The USFS says U.S. family forest owners have held their land an average of 26 years. Should these people on the front lines of sustainable forest management be forced to make the difficult financial choice to

sell long-held family land when a drop in paper demand results from green marketing claims that don't hold water?

If companies and government agencies want to encourage a switch from paper to electronic communication because it's speedier or more cost-effective, we cannot argue with that. But don't tout that electronic bill or monthly statement as the greener alternative because it's just not true.

The green movement also needs to gets its fact right about paper as the claim that going paperless saves the trees of the tropical rainforests is not only a fallacy but it is an outright lie. Hardwood trees are not suitable for the making of paper pulp and about 99.9% of the trees of the (tropical) rainforests are hardwood.

The only broadleaved trees that are suitable for the making of paper are poplars, and one or two other species, as their wood is light enough, but hardwoods per se just not for paper pulp make.

Paper is made, predominately, from coniferous woods, that is to say from the likes of spruce, pine and fir, grown more often than not on marginal land that cannot grow hardwoods or have much use for agriculture.

Trees are not saved if and when people reduce their use of paper. The contrary would be the case for the paper companies that own those forests and others who supply the timber for the making of paper would, if the market should dry up, fell the trees and turn the land over for other purposes, more than likely for urban development. Not the result we should be aiming for.

Let's stop greenwashing and tell the real story, and the green movement should be waking up the truth as well.

© 2013

Documenting the value of paper

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

If you are interested in what research has to say about the value of paper, don’t miss this recently released report from the American Forest & Paper Association. It provides a terrific review of studies, reports and scholarly articles that show how paper enriches and improves many dimensions of our lives.

Yes, you may say that they are biased, as all foresters could be considered too, as working the forests is our livelihood and paper is one of the products of our forests.

And, even as the demographic scale tips toward the new generation of digital natives, paper remains an important and essential component of multichannel communication.

Paper informs, creates a permanent record of milestones in life, provides secure documentation, reaches customers and offers a sustainable communication option that no other medium can match.

While the coexistence paper and digital communications continues to evolve, the reasons for choosing paper are as strong as ever … paper offers value that just can’t be beat!

Far too many people believe and repeat the mantra that going paperless or using less paper saves trees and especially the trees of the Rainforest but that is but a mantra and has little to nothing to do with the truth.

First of all we are creating more paper waste, and this is where the problem lies – waste, than ever before since we have gone “paperless” for people want and need paper records and thus print them out, regardless.

E-readers and e-books are being advocated and people flock to buy those but no one, it seems, or at least almost no one, considers the costs of the devices (and the hosting of the e-books) to the environment. E-readers are far from green and never will be green. Paper, on the other hand, especially if sourced from sustainable managed resources, is.

When it comes to saving the tropical Rainforests reducing our use of paper will not make one single iota of a difference as tropical hardwoods are not used and cannot be used in the production of pulp for the making of paper. The wood is simply too hard. Trust me, I am a forester.

Paper can be recycled and other paper and card products can be made from it. More than can be said for e-readers and e-books. That is not to say that I do not like the use of PDFs; I do, but only for electronic transmission of materials that then, as far as I am concerned, are printed out, bound and read like a normal book or such.

The great majority of all pulp for paper production comes from forests that are planted, managed and owned by the paper companies themselves and if it would not be for the fact that they bring an income to those companies those forests simply would not exist. The land would be developed for whatever; housing, industrial estates or whatever, but would not be forests.

In addition to that those companies and their forests proved thousands upon thousands of jobs, in the forests and down the line, and the trees that are cut are replaced at least at a 1:3 ratio, that is to say for every tree felled three new ones are planted.

If you are really interested in the truth you can download “Documenting the Value of Paper: Literature Review” here

© 2013

Laptop losers: Tech actually hindering kids in classrooms

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Laptops may actually hinder students ability to learn, providing a distraction and even affecting students sitting near their owners, according to a stunning new Canadian report. With laptops and tablet computers pervading the modern classroom, the report suggests that paper and pencil might be less distracting overall.

"We really didn't think the effects would be this huge," explained McMaster University researcher Faria Sana, who co-authored the study with fellow doctoral student Tina Weston. "It can change your grade from a B+ to a B-.'

For their study, published earlier this year in the journal Computers & Education, Sana and Weston gave some students laptops to take notes, and asked them to complete a few unrelated tasks in their spare time. Other students were told given No. 2 pencils and the same tasks.

The test scenario was meant to ape a real classroom, Sana told the Canadian Press Association.

"We really tried to make it pretty close to what actually happens in the lectures,” she said.

Those students who multitasked on their laptops performed significantly worse than the pencil pushers – and surprisingly, the effect even reached to students sitting near the laptop users.

“Those who were seated around peers who were multitasking also performed much worse on the final test," Sana said.

With the pervasiveness of tech in today’s classrooms, students have known to grow distracted, surfing the Internet, playing games, or updating Facebook profiles rather than paying attention. And that’s the problem, the researchers said.

"A lot of students spend quite a big chunk of time in class doing things that are not related to the academic environment or aren't directly related to the course or the lecture," Sana said.

The same, it has to be said, is true for reading “on screen”. It is tiring for youngsters as much as for adults and a printed book is much easier to deal with. The same goes for forms and other materials.

And before anyone screams that I am advocating dead trees and the destruction of the rainforests through paper companies neither of this is true.

First and foremost no tropical rainforest timber can even remotely be made into pulp for the production of paper; it is far too hard. And secondly were it not for the responsible paper companies millions of acres of forests – though alas predominately softwoods – would not even exist.

In addition to everything we forget the environmental footprint generated by all those e-Readers and other devices for us to use, instead of paper. And the fact that so many institutions and governments are going “paperless” as far as forms and such are concerned has nothing to do with their concern for the environment but everything to do with the cost of printing, and that even goes for printing “in house”, which is every so easy, however, with a PC and a printer.

And, if it came to it there are other sources from which to make paper as well instead of trees. There is hemp, straw, and other materials too but sustainably managed forests from which paper is taken for pulp is still the best option of all. Why? Because those trees are replaced by the companies – or the forest owners other that the paper mills – by at least a ration of 3 to 1, often even a greater one. Thus there will young trees growing and absorbing carbon and that to a much greater degree than a mature tree.

Trust me, I am a forester...

© 2013

Two Sides Targets U.S. Consumers With New Ad Campaign

No Wonder You Love Paper Ads Promote the Attractiveness and Sustainability of Magazines and Newspapers

CHICAGO, IL, May 29, 2013 – As part of its expanding efforts to promote the sustainability of print and paper, Two Sides this month will begin working with U.S. magazine and newspaper publishers to reach consumers with the No Wonder You Love Paper ad campaign. One of the first ads to appear is in the June issue of National Geographic magazine. The campaign, which promotes the sustainability, visual appeal and versatility of magazines and newspapers, follows a similar, highly successful campaign in Europe that anticipates $10 million worth of in-kind ad placements in leading magazines and newspapers.

"Two Sides research shows that 70 percent of polled U.S. consumers, including 69 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds, say they prefer to read print and paper communications rather than reading off a screen," says Two Sides President Phil Riebel. "But Americans also have many misconceptions about the effects of paper-based communications on the environment. In fact, print and paper have a great environmental story to tell, and the No Wonder You Love Paper Ad campaign is designed to help set the record straight."

The No Wonder You Love Paper ads feature people enjoying magazines and newspapers in their everyday lives and offer facts about the sustainability of print and paper. "We know people will easily relate to the situations portrayed in the ads and may be surprised by some of the facts presented," Riebel says. "For example, a lot of people don't know that 65 percent of paper produced in the United States each year is collected and recycled or that there are now 49 percent more trees growing in U.S. forests than 50 years ago. When people are aware of the facts, they can not only enjoy the many types of printed media they encounter every day, but also can feel good knowing that by choosing ink on paper they are supporting one of the most sustainable products on the planet," he says.

The No Wonder You Love Paper ad campaign is supported by a consumer website, http://www.youlovepaper.info/US/, that includes additional facts about the sustainability of print and paper, a short video on paper and forests, a fun quiz and the opportunity to win a prize for creating a short "fun with paper" video.

"We're excited that Two Sides is launching a campaign to help highlight how paper is sustainable and powerful," said Paige Goff, Vice President of Sustainability and Business Communications for Domtar Corporation. "Paper remains purposeful and personal, and from the forest floor to all types of printed media, there's a way consumers can be sure their paper comes from well-managed forests. We're grateful that Two Sides is helping spread the word."

Publishers interested in participating in the ad campaign may contact Phil Riebel at 1-855-896-7433 (toll-free) or pnr@twosides.info.

About Two Sides:

Two Sides is an independent, non-profit organization created to promote the responsible production, use and sustainability of print and paper. Started in Europe in 2008, Two Sides is now active worldwide. The organization has more than 1,000 members that span the entire print and paper supply chain, including pulp and paper producers, paper distributors, ink and chemical manufacturers, printers, envelope manufacturers, equipment manufacturers and publishers. For more information about Two Sides visit the Two Sides website at www.twosides.us.

This press release is presented for your information only.

Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.

Non-Profit Initiates Next Stage of its Mission to Stop Greenwashing

Two Sides Urges Leading U.S. Companies to End Misleading Claims about Print and Paper

(CHICAGO) March 12, 2013 – Two Sides today announced the next stage of its nationwide initiative to urge major U.S. banks, utilities and telecommunication companies to end the use of misleading marketing claims about the sustainability of print and paper. Phase Two will include a second round of communication intended to initiate productive discussion with senior management in the target industries, reminding them of their responsibility to adhere to best practices for environmental marketing as outlined in the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s recently revised Green Guides.

Last year, Two Sides contacted senior bank, utility and telecom executives, encouraging them to follow the yet-to-be-released FTC Green Guides, which say that environmental marketing claims should not exaggerate environmental impacts and must be substantiated. While some responded positively, many of the nation’s top banks, utilities and telecoms continue to tell their customers that switching to online billing and communication is better for the environment than print and paper with no verifiable or credible supporting evidence. With the release of the updated Green Guides in October 2012, the FTC made it official that that unqualified environmental language would be viewed as deceptive marketing, strengthening the Two Sides call for change.

“Two Sides has no desire to cause unnecessary negative publicity for these companies or to undermine their cost-saving and efficiency reasons for driving customers towards e-billing, but claims that print and paper are environmentally unfriendly need to stop,” says Two Sides President Phil Riebel. “Rather than call these respected companies out publicly with greenwashing complaints, we’d much prefer to amicably work with them behind the scenes to help develop messaging that meets the Green Guides standards for environmental marketing,” he says. “However, we’re prepared to use the strongest means necessary to put an end to the use of unsupported environmental claims that are potentially damaging to the paper, printing and mailing sectors which support millions of U.S. Jobs.”

Two Sides conducted a similar campaign to get companies in the United Kingdom to drop or revise unsupported environmental claims about printed media with great success. More than 80 percent of the U.K. companies approached – including well-known names like British Telecom, Barclaycard, Vodafone and EON Energy – worked with Two Sides to eliminate misleading or factually incorrect environmental claims about the use of print and paper.

“The fact is, print and paper products made in the U.S. have a great environmental story to tell,” Riebel says. “Paper comes from a renewable resource – trees grown in responsibly managed forests – and it’s recycled more than any other commodity, including plastics, metals and glass. The continuing demand for sustainably sourced paper gives U.S. landowners a financial incentive to continue managing their lands responsibly and keep them forested rather than selling them for development – the number one cause of deforestation in the United States. Thanks in great part to the sustainable forestry practices advanced by the paper and forest products industry, the volume of growing trees in U.S. forests has increased nearly 50 percent over the last half century and the total acres of forestland has remained essentially unchanged for 100 years.”

The direct impact of electronic products and services replacing paper is far from negligible, and the trade-offs between the two depends on how often we use the different technologies and how we dispose of the products. Both electronic and print media are important, and both have environmental impacts that must be taken into consideration. Electronic communication has a significant and growing carbon footprint due to the energy requirements of a vast worldwide network of servers necessary to store information for immediate access. Electronic communication also relies on significant amounts of fossil-fuel energy and non-renewable raw materials for processing and manufacturing. With electronic waste becoming the fastest growing waste stream in the world and related environmental and health concerns escalating rapidly in many countries, promoting “going paperless” as the best environmental choice is unfounded.

It’s also important to note that equating electronic billing and statements with “going paperless” is misleading. When traditional bills and statements are converted to electronic communication, much of that paper is replaced by home or office printing by those who prefer or require a permanent hard copy. Furthermore, a recent study by NACHA, the Electronic Payments Association, showed that up to 40 percent of consumers receive both electronic and paper statements.

“Some of the major U.S. companies in the financial, telecom and utility sectors are to be commended for implementing sustainability initiatives that focus on true performance measurement and factual environmental claims, but others are lagging behind in terms of credible messaging,” Riebel says. “Two Sides is committed to help change this, and our experience to date shows that we’ve been successful in finding mutually acceptable solutions.”

Two Sides is an independent, non-profit organization created to promote the responsible production, use and sustainability of print and paper. Started in Europe in 2008, Two Sides is now active in more than 12 countries. The organization has more than 1,000 members that span the entire print and paper supply chain, including pulp and paper producers, paper distributors, ink and chemical manufacturers, printers, equipment manufacturers and publishers. For more information about Two Sides visit the Two Sides website at www.twosides.us.

Full Disclosure Statement: The GREEN (LIVING) REVIEW received no compensation for any component of this article.

Manual Address Book

Part of the series (S)Low Tech vs. High Tech

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

In today's digital world we all – well not all of us really but a great many of us – rely and depend on our contacts list via computers or cell phones, whether stored on the device or online, and often this address book is only backed up digitally as well, if at all.

Consider, however, for a moment, the loss of your cell phone, a crash of your computer or its hard drive, or loss of access, for whatever reason, to your digital address book. If those contact details, those named and addresses, etc., are not “backed up”, other than digitally, it could mean that you lose them.

Many people seemingly have come to believe that digital, and thus paperless, is superior, but is that really so?

When technology fails, and it is bound to do at some stage, it is then that Low Tech shows its superiority. A paper-based address book of sorts should always be in existence for if and when technology throws a fit.

Sure, my address book is also on the PC, as far as email addresses are concerned but I also maintain a manual back up in the form of paper-based records.

The good old-fashioned Filofax kind of address book and the humble index cards in a box (you can even make your own cards; I do) all still are the most reliable form of maintaining contact records, as the the address book with the tabbed alphabetical index that you can buy most places, often for little money.

Many people nowadays believe that paper records of all kinds, including manual address book and such, are outdated and the purveyors of digital products and services most definitely want us to believe that.

However, in many instances (S)Low Tech will beat High Tech and it is always good to have and maintain paper records and drafts of articles on paper too. Says he who has, for the second time, when transferring a document from one hard drive to another, lost 80% of an article. How? Beats me!

Proof, however, that it is good to have back up and duplicates and also and especially paper records.

© 2012