Paperless Environment?

[Old Dad]

We've been hearing about it for over two decades now and, truthfully. not much has come of the idea. But there are two things afoot that might take us in that direction. One is the pressure (and funding is now being supplied) to get all hospital and doctor's medical data (patient information) stored electronically and therefore accessible from practically anywhere. Lot's of work still to be done on that with incompatible systems, etc. but at least it's moving forward.

This is another one: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33153464/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/ If indeed major publications take this route, it would have a pretty big impact. Actually, I don't feel they have much choice as print media is loosing ground (and ad revenue) daily.

A side note: If anything good can be said about spam in your inbox, it's that at least it's reduced (somewhat) the amount of mass-mailing ads showing up in your regular postal mailbox.

Who knows, perhaps in the distant future, trees may once again be more of a fuel source than a pulp/paper source.

[rickharris]

I can't see it happening any time soon. For any amount of information the paper is easy to use and generate and easy to transport.

Until the PC is reduced to the size and weight of the paper I don't think it will be a replacement. Even the E books on sale don't meet that requirement and are only a "different" sort of paper anyway.

What is needed is a totally different way to view information. Perhaps personal projectors that can use a convenient surface will be the future, Perhaps E ink that can be erased and reused will do it. Perhaps direct access to the brain via a wireless link will do it - Kind of electronic telepathy!
What would these things do for exams etc? Wht you have no idea if the student interviewee is being prompted?

The other day at a political conference one of the delegates spoke without notes - people think that from his speech patterns he was been prompted by ear piece from off stage. This is of course done on TV all the time.

paperless? Actually I think since the popularity of the personal PC the amount of paper has gone up because it is so easy to print off a copy of anything and so much information to use. Boring Flip chart presentations now replaced with Wizzy projected presentations (with hand outs!) Although I have received some handouts on a small USB smemory stick - Kind of neat.

[Old Dad]

I can't see it happening any time soon. For any amount of information the paper is easy to use and generate and easy to transport.

Until the PC is reduced to the size and weight of the paper I don't think it will be a replacement. Even the E books on sale don't meet that requirement and are only a "different" sort of paper anyway.

What is needed is a totally different way to view information. Perhaps personal projectors that can use a convenient surface will be the future, Perhaps E ink that can be erased and reused will do it. Perhaps direct access to the brain via a wireless link will do it - Kind of electronic telepathy!
What would these things do for exams etc? Wht you have no idea if the student interviewee is being prompted?

The other day at a political conference one of the delegates spoke without notes - people think that from his speech patterns he was been prompted by ear piece from off stage. This is of course done on TV all the time.

paperless? Actually I think since the popularity of the personal PC the amount of paper has gone up because it is so easy to print off a copy of anything and so much information to use. Boring Flip chart presentations now replaced with Wizzy projected presentations (with hand outs!) Although I have received some handouts on a small USB smemory stick - Kind of neat.

I'm not so certain, Richard.

If all those publications listed in that article (and more to follow, I believe) with millions of readers worldwide, went out of print and purely digital, the effects would be considerable. And as I said, it seems to me they have little choice in the matter - either convert or perish.

And the other thing - hospital patient's records. Have you ever seen their record rooms? I visited one by happenstance to pick up my records for transport. They were supposed to be at the check-in counter but weren't and I was sent down to pick them up. It was located in the basement and the sheer size would rival that of most public libraries. Multiply that times the thousands of hospitals here in the U.S. and you're talking about a virtual MOUNTAIN of paper!! (And that's not even beginning to count the records in each doctor's private office/clinic.)

[rickharris]

My medical records at my doctors are both paper and digitised. it's an impressive file and I don;t think I have been particularly ill.

My hospital record is also impressive. HOWEVER for general use I still don't think paper has bit the dust yet.

No doubt there are LOTS of improvements we could make to day to day living even using current existing technology:

example.

Automatic unmanned public transport following a track or wire line laid inthe road. This could be small and frequent as it would be fully under control. Easy even today


What improvements can you see??

[Elefino]

Personally I don't like using a computer screen for reading material. I'd rather lean back in an easy chair to do my reading from a magazine or book.

As for digitizing medical records, that can't happen soon enough for me. Every time my Primary Physician refers me to a specialist I have to fill out another long form for the new doctor. Seems like I'm always re-inventing the wheel. Kaiser Permanente seems to have a good start. I used to be able to order my father's prescriptions online for home delivey by mail. And when his caregiver took him to the Kaiser facility for checkups an tests, the results were available to me online before he got back home.

[Old Dad]

My medical records at my doctors are both paper and digitised. it's an impressive file and I don;t think I have been particularly ill.

My hospital record is also impressive. HOWEVER for general use I still don't think paper has bit the dust yet.

No doubt there are LOTS of improvements we could make to day to day living even using current existing technology:

example.

Automatic unmanned public transport following a track or wire line laid inthe road. This could be small and frequent as it would be fully under control. Easy even today


What improvements can you see??

Hi, Richard,

Oh, no - I don't see a reduction in paper usage anytime in the near future. In fact, it's probably still increasing right now. It's just that I see those two thing alone as being major contributors towards turning things around.

Well, I have to admit to not being much of a visionary, technology-wise. Perhaps I'm just a wee bit jaded by all the failed visions of the past half-century. However, I do have hopes for things like solar power being beamed down in the form of microwaves in the fairly near term and fusion energy in the long term. I also foresee practically everyone in Western nations - and some developing countries as well - having Internet access. Though I must admit that I'm not so sure of it making people any smarter because there's TONS of bad info out there! Probably just as much bad as there is good.

There are also other things that we are capable of right now. One biggie is to allow airliners to fly point-to-point and eliminate the 'highways in the sky' that are so wasteful of fuel and time. GPS tracking instead of the conventional (and sometimes rather spotty) ground-based radar systems. It would be a bit expensive but I'd be willing to bet the airlines themselves would be willing to pick up most of the tab, given the savings they would reap. Additionally, it would completely eliminate dead zones - like over much of the Atlantic and Pacific - and allow for tracking of any plane that gets into trouble.

[drew]

However, I do have hopes for things like solar power being beamed down in the form of microwaves in the fairly near term

I think residential solar power is more likely. Solar panels are approaching the critical price point where the ROI is beneficial.

Where do you suppose these microwaves would come from?

[Old Dad]

However, I do have hopes for things like solar power being beamed down in the form of microwaves in the fairly near term

I think residential solar power is more likely. Solar panels are approaching the critical price point where the ROI is beneficial.

That's true, it seems to be getting better every year.

Where do you suppose these microwaves would come from?

Seriously?? From satellites. There are two different countries (sorry, forgotten exactly which ones) that are in negotiations right now with companies to launch them and build the ground receiving stations. I've seen at least two news articles about their plans. Both are initial 'prove-in' projects with full-scale installations to follow if the trials turn out well.

I could be mistaken about these numbers but it seems like one of the pilot installations was for a 5MW trial to be followed by a 8GW one if the first works as expected. I'll search around and see if I can locate one of the articles.

[drew]

I could be mistaken about these numbers but it seems like one of the pilot installations was for a 5MW trial to be followed by a 8GW one if the first works as expected. I'll search around and see if I can locate one of the articles.

I'm skeptical. To collect 5 MW of solar energy, you need tens of thousands of square meters of collecting area. It's much cheaper and easier to collect that same energy at the surface, and the atmosphere doesn't attenuate solar energy enough to make spaced-based generation worthwhile.

I tend to believe the simpler solutions are the more likely.

[Old Dad]

I could be mistaken about these numbers but it seems like one of the pilot installations was for a 5MW trial to be followed by a 8GW one if the first works as expected. I'll search around and see if I can locate one of the articles.

I'm skeptical. To collect 5 MW of solar energy, you need tens of thousands of square meters of collecting area. It's much cheaper and easier to collect that same energy at the surface, and the atmosphere doesn't attenuate solar energy enough to make spaced-based generation worthwhile.

I tend to believe the simpler solutions are the more likely.

Your thoughts sound reasonable and sensible to me, Drew. But for some reason both of those countries are very interested in a space-based system.