The other day, my daughter was discussing the benefits of a paperless system for, well, everything. 
It should all be computerized, she thinks.
She's young and idealistic and has been raised around computers. I'd expect nothing different from her, actually.
But I am, well, not young, and didn't use computers with any regularity until I was about 20. And I worked in an office-supply store when all that was sold in office-supply stores was office supplies! (Yesterday I went to an office-supply store and bought earbuds for MP3 players and a surge protector--not things we used to sell in that little store where I worked.)
I have a computer and a PDA smartphone that syncs with the computer and shares the data, so I am never without my "cyber-brain" that contains all my contacts, shopping lists, and other bits of information I might need. And that technology is a wonderful thing. However, I can't break myself of the need to write things down on paper.
When I teach language, I always tell my students that the more ways you handle information, the more likely it is that you will retain it. I advise them to say words out loud, spell them out loud, and write them on paper or flash cards. For some reason, typing them into the computer doesn't seem to have the same effect.
My desk always looks like it's been the victim of a paper tornado, and I'm not expecting anything different anytime soon. For me, paper is a tool of the trade.
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