…and none of them are “green” reasons.
Not that I don’t believe in saving trees…I’ve just found other compelling arguments for eschewing stacks of studio paper.
1) Flatscreen monitors are felony cheap. I bought a 23″ LG HDMI monitor at Fry’s Electronics for $189. The deals get better every day. If you’re a Windows guy (not sure about Mac), set up your studio with two monitors in Control Panel settings. Put your DAW interface on one screen, and read your copy off your other screen.
2) No rattling of pages, or page turning sounds. Don’t pooh-pooh this one. If you’re an audiobook or long-format narrator, this can save a lot of time in the long run — in editing and physically having to handle the pages (and edit out the sounds of pages and paper).
3) Tablet Computers are the bomb. Forget #1, get a tablet computer (iPad, Motorola XOOM, Samsung Galaxy, etc). Buy an inexpensive mount and position it anywhere in your studio. Heck, hold it like a piece of paper! Use your finger to turn pages. Silent!
4) “The Cloud” solves all. The same company that makes Dragon Naturally Speaking (Nuance), also makes PaperPort. With a small investment, and access to a scanner (use your iPhone!), you can make your whole world paperless! Store .pdfs, .docs, receipts, letters, invoices…ANYTHING on paper can be transferred to the cloud, and called up from the cloud onto your smartphone, tablet computer, computer monitor, even your TV screen.
5) “The Cloud” part II. DropBox may be the most ingeniously easy invention of the last 5 years. Many of my clients use it so send copy and receive audiofiles. AudioBook publishers use it for workflow. It’s drop-dead easy and brainless. Same with Box.net, SugarSync, Evernote, and SpringPad.
6) Save Space. This is so obvious, I almost didn’t mention it. No more file cabinets, drawers, folders, notebooks, shelves, dust, paperclips, staples — it all goes away with digital storage of documents.
7) Searching is a Cinch. Unless you’re incredibly organized and disciplined, searching digital documents beats the heck out of sifting through endless files and drawers. Just tell your computer to do the search for you. Saves on paper cuts, too.
Honorable mention: Going paperless (especially with the aid of a tablet computer) empowers you to have more control of your business…with the flexibility to work when, where, and how you want.
I am so not the first person to make a list like this. Below are some others (and they all used the crutch argument of
“going green”):
Six Good Reasons to go Paperless Today
Five Reasons you should go Paperless
Top Ten Reasons to go Paperless
Three Big Reasons to go Paperless
Three Practical Reasons to go Paperless
The Top Five Reasons to go Paperless
Did I miss something? Please comment below and let us know.
CourVO
