GC Mouli's Blog

Go Paperless ... at home!

paperless_it.jpg
(Image courtesy: http://www.amalaserline.com/)
NYTimes has an article on going paperless at home. Yes, you heard me right. We have always been hearing about a paperless office. But this article concentrates on how to go paper less at home. Recipe is to scan receipts, bills, taxes, even books! and storing them digitally. There is only one thing that I am wary about in this whole exercise.
"Once the books are all scanned and backed up on several hard drives, I'll never have to worry about the shed roof leaking and ruining them," he says. "I've preserved them forever if I put them on the computer."
Is that really true -- about preserving them 'forever' ? How long do digital hard drives last ? CDs ? DVDs ? All of these have finite life times. But if you store your books inside a concrete/brick house, you are guaranteed multiple lifetimes. Read the NYT article here . And the article touts a Google engineering director. I am even tempted to believe that it is a google planned article/conspiracy :-)