General Observations on Digital vs. Paper Data by Dan Butler This article first appeared in TNPC #7.6

Computers have taken over many of the functions we have relied on in the past. Address books, card catalogs, note pads, and more. What once took us several minutes to do now takes seconds. But what have we lost in the process?

I was talking to my wife about this the other day. We had written a note to some long time friends. Then we went to retrieve their address from our computer based address book. It wasn't in there. We had never added them to that repository. After a short search we retrieved our old paper based address book. We spent several minutes looking over the entries with fond memories.

I've thought often of what we loose by going to digital based solutions. Let's look at the address book for example. What caught our eye in that old address book and triggered our memories?

First was the historical information we saw. Some friends and relatives were crossed out and added again several times as they moved from place to place. The entries were a short historical record of their places of living. And the entries were in chronological order. Thinking of the various entries brought back memories of our experiences with them in each of the locations.

Some were crossed out and not added again. A memory of a special person who had left this life. Some had a small date written by them. A reminder of when they left us.

Next we saw an entry or two we didn't remember. The handwriting instantly revealed whether the entry belonged to me or my wife. That helped direct our memory to who the person was.

Then there were the slips of paper, Post-it notes, and business cards we found inside the book. Handwritten notes next to a certain phone number and much more.

All of these items are missing in my computer based organizer. Even if the program included these sort of helps they will be hidden away on my computer except for periodic printouts. And who will know to print it out when the time comes. We've been traveling and forgot to bring a current copy of the list. We've also forgotten the paper version for what it is worth.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a Luddite when it comes to technology. I do understand that paper based organizers and computer based organizers are only as good as the data they receive. If they aren't updated they aren't much help.

© 2004 Dan Butler