One day I looked up and saw an empty space where some pay phones were. I knew then I had to get a mobile phone.
More recently, I knew the post office was shrinking, and I knew paper mills were shutting down, but I hadn't noticed that office supply stores were dying too.
It makes sense of course. When was the last time you bought a paper clip or a file folder? We buy some school supplies for our kids, but nothing that general retail stores can't handle. If not for a peculiar circumstance, we'd rarely buy printer paper. Our printer would go the way of our last typewriter -- dusted off every few months for a special project.
Apple added printing to iOS devices a few months back. Did anyone notice?
Thirty years after the PC was supposed to eliminate paper, but instead causes a printing boom, it's finally happening.
I'm sure we can't imagine all the implications. If paper becomes a nice product, for example, what happens to the cost of paper back books?
PS. A little bit of irony though. Our typewriter went away around 1990 or so. We've done a lot more hand printing since. So the world split between new tech and ancient tech.
