by Melissa Brown

Created on: May 03, 2009

The electronic computing era started way back in the late 40's. In about 1956, my third grade science teacher, Miss Philips, predicted to the class that we'd be completely free of paper files by the year 2000. She also predicted that food costs would rise out of sight. She was right about the food, considering that a pack of cigarettes cost about the same as a loaf of bread back then, and that was about 15 to 25 cents. However, we have been reluctant to let go of our beloved paper files. They still exist in every home and business. As I write, I am sitting amid huge filing cabinets, hanging files and upright filing slots, not to mention stacks of files on the floor propped up against the wall with heavy objects.

Why are we so afraid to trust our computers to keep all of this? There are all kinds of computer capabilities. Besides, you can back up files every day if you want to. There are many occasions that require a hard copy, signed and actually in someone's hands as proof of undying commitment. Why on earth can't we make our signature once, scan it into the computer and use as it is intended? Some companies and organizations do accept this as a legal signature. I think we're getting there slowly. Maybe in the future, computers will hold individual finger prints as legal signatures, if it's not already being done.

It took me some time to really get comfortable with computer generated work, but I was way ahead of my boss. In 1993, my boss, Arnie, was still holding his ground that his computer was a #2 pencil, and delete was the eraser on the end of said pencil. I swear he kept a Big Chief Tablet in his brief case. Any computer skills I had were wasted on an IBM Selectric II typewriter. Finally the day came. His boss in the home office in New Orleans, LA (NOLA) required our office to be equipped with computers, and that Arnie would actually have his very own. And, horror of horrors, he would have to use it. Arnie displayed his terror in a fit of temper ... "How DARE they tell me how to run this office!" The man was clearly horrified. He didn't have a clue as to how to operate a typerwriter keyboard, let alone one with all of those new-fangled buttons and commands. By that time, my husband had bought our very first computer, and I'd been learning at home for about a year. Actually, I'd had a little computer experience on temporariy job assignments prior to going to work for Arnie at CBI.

The day finally arrived. A couple of computer techs showed up to install two

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