My social security card, first pilot’s certificate and various other government-issued documents I got years ago were all typed by hand. Computers? Those were barely in the vernacular, much less on the desk. Everything we did was on paper.
Paper, I Knew Thee Well
My social security card, first pilots certificate and various other government-issued documents I got years ago were all typed by hand. Computers? Those were barely in the vernacular, much less on the desk. Everything we did was on paper.Computers promised to eliminate that paper. Before I became a professional pilot and later editor of this magazine, I spent 30 years in the computer industry. I did my part to fulfill that no-paper promise, but few others did. If computers were going to eliminate paper, why were we developing printers that could spit out reams of the stuff in seconds? A paperless society seemed an empty promise.
Key Takeaways:
- The long-promised paperless society, initially unfulfilled by early computers, is finally being realized thanks to modern mobile devices like tablets, which made technology compelling to the masses.
- The author, a pilot, specifically highlights the aviation industry's historical reliance on cumbersome and paper-heavy chart updates as a prime example of a process now streamlined by digital solutions.
- Having been a "holdout" for paper, the author has fully embraced electronic flight bag (EFB) apps on an iPad, finding paper charts entirely obsolete and celebrating the fulfillment of the paperless promise in his professional life.
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