Adapting to a Paperless World

Friday, April 10, 2009

Page 11

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

Adapting to a Paperless World

By J’AMY PACHECO

I’m a paper person.

It’s not because I work in what is probably the most paper-intensive field outside of actual paper-making – I’ve just always liked paper.

I love going into office supply stores, and almost always come out with something having to do with paper. Usually, it’s a tablet. I have them everywhere – big tablets, small scratch pads, lined tablets in every color of the rainbow. I’ve got tablets in my purse, my car, on my nightstand and yes, even in the bathroom.

If I stay in a hotel that puts out tablets and pens, you can bet they won’t be there when I check out. Once, I taught a class during a convention held at a big hotel that put out tablets for all the students. When they left, I happily collected all the tablets that were left behind. It was paradise.

I have tablets from places that don’t even exist anymore, like the Stardust Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. I do use these tablets; I just don’t use them fast enough to keep up with the new supply that is constantly finding its way into my home.

Tablets aren’t the only kind of paper to which I’m attached. I have so many books that some day, I’m going to have to learn to use them as furniture. If those wacky North Koreans decide to launch one of those “satellite” rockets this way, I’m guessing anybody taking shelter within my book-lined walls will survive the aftermath.

I receive three newspapers every day, and I can’t begin to tell you how many magazines end up in my mailbox every month. Suffice to say, a lot of paper passes through my home.

I wonder how long that will continue. The times, they say, are a-changing.

Speaking of The Times — I’ve been a subscriber to the Los Angeles Times for a lot of years. It was, therefore, quite a surprise when I noticed the other day that I didn’t even have to open the paper to find advertising anymore. There, on Page One – right at the bottom of Column One, was an advertisement masquerading as news.

To be fair, the “article” was clearly labeled as an advertisement. I just didn’t expect to ever pick up The Times and see an ad disguised as a story on the front page.

But you can’t blame The Times – I’m sure it was a money thing. The fact that the paper keeps calling me to subscribe when I’ve been subscribing for decades indicates the paper may be trying new things to keep its head above water.

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, as they say.

The stalwart Hollywood paper Variety is struggling, too. I recently read – in the Los Angeles Times, for the record – that industry people are canceling their subscriptions because they can read the same news online, faster. Variety has been around for almost 80 years, but it’s losing ground to Internet upstarts.

I imagine news providers that are willing to adapt to the demand for instant electronic news can survive, if they can figure out how to make it work.

I’m sure book publishers, too, will survive. Book printers – that’s a different story. With electronic readers on the rise, I wonder what kind of future is in store for printers, and even my favorite book shop.

The scary thing about a paper-free world is that we leave no paper trail. I suppose that’s a good thing for trees, but how well protected is our written history if it comes to exist solely in bits and bytes?

The bigger question is, how will paper-lovers like me fare?

I have Internet. I read news online. But there is no comparison to sitting down with a newspaper and reading the kinds of stories you just don’t find online – at least, not without waiting a few days, and searching.

Digital news is fast, short, informative and now and then, a bit smart-aleck. But it’s like eating a saltine cracker when you’re really hungry – temporary, and unsatisfying.

There’s something about the feel of a newspaper in my hands that makes me happy enough not to mind having to wash off the ink later. I like that I can keep bound books in my trunk for reading emergencies, and not have to worry about heat affecting their readability.

I’m all for adapting to change and saving trees, but I still want my daily newspapers. I’d prefer them without the advertising on the front page, but, hey, I can be flexible. See how quickly I can adapt?

You gotta do what you gotta do, as they say.