We're living in the electronic age. So why are so many Canadian firms printing more than ever?
Whatever happened to those halcyon visions of a clean desk without paper clutter? It’s not like we don’t posses the technology to achieve this. But when experts predicted we would all be working in a paperless office by now, they were overlooking one thing— humans like to print stuff. “People really love paper—that’s something we are realizing more and more,” said Paul Smith, the laboratory manager at Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) in Mississauga, Ont. In fact, corporate printer sales have been steadily growing year over year, said Bradley Hughes, research analyst at Toronto-based IDC Canada. He said that in 2005 alone, the colour laser market grew a whopping 91 per cent. What surprised him more was the fact that the monochrome printing market is also still growing. And, according to Forrester Research, even though 47 per cent of Canadians now receive an online statement for their bank accounts, a full 86 per cent also continue to receive a paper statement by mail.
Mobile data and voice are great, as long as the signal is strong. And while mobile networks are pretty good these days, road warriors quickly discover that dead zones still exist.
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