The paperless office twenty years later: Still a myth?
Sellen and Harper’s The Myth of the Paperless Office argued that paper-displacement technologies paradoxically led to a rise in paper consumption. Using data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, I analyze paper-consumption trends in the twenty years since the publication of thi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15487733.2022.2146370 |
| _version_ | 1811213911135879168 |
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| author | Michael D. Briscoe |
| author_facet | Michael D. Briscoe |
| author_sort | Michael D. Briscoe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sellen and Harper’s The Myth of the Paperless Office argued that paper-displacement technologies paradoxically led to a rise in paper consumption. Using data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, I analyze paper-consumption trends in the twenty years since the publication of this pivotal book. These data show that globally paper consumption has leveled out and that in most regions of the world it has begun to decline, in some cases by large amounts in a relatively short period of time. I suggest that there are two primary reasons for this reversal: improved displacement technologies such as smartphones and mobile Internet and time for people and organizations to adopt these new technologies and behaviors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T05:54:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b43ff5f5101a427396f0078825b79123 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1548-7733 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T05:54:15Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy |
| spelling | doaj.art-b43ff5f5101a427396f0078825b791232022-12-22T03:45:12ZengTaylor & Francis GroupSustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy1548-77332022-12-0118183784510.1080/15487733.2022.2146370The paperless office twenty years later: Still a myth?Michael D. Briscoe0Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology, Colorado State University Pueblo, Pueblo, CO, USASellen and Harper’s The Myth of the Paperless Office argued that paper-displacement technologies paradoxically led to a rise in paper consumption. Using data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, I analyze paper-consumption trends in the twenty years since the publication of this pivotal book. These data show that globally paper consumption has leveled out and that in most regions of the world it has begun to decline, in some cases by large amounts in a relatively short period of time. I suggest that there are two primary reasons for this reversal: improved displacement technologies such as smartphones and mobile Internet and time for people and organizations to adopt these new technologies and behaviors.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15487733.2022.2146370Paperless office paradoxpaper consumptiondisplacementtechnology |
| spellingShingle | Michael D. Briscoe The paperless office twenty years later: Still a myth? Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy Paperless office paradox paper consumption displacement technology |
| title | The paperless office twenty years later: Still a myth? |
| title_full | The paperless office twenty years later: Still a myth? |
| title_fullStr | The paperless office twenty years later: Still a myth? |
| title_full_unstemmed | The paperless office twenty years later: Still a myth? |
| title_short | The paperless office twenty years later: Still a myth? |
| title_sort | paperless office twenty years later still a myth |
| topic | Paperless office paradox paper consumption displacement technology |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15487733.2022.2146370 |
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