Ever since I entered the corporate world back in 1988, I’ve been hearing that we are eventually going to switch to a paperless office. No matter where I work, we’re going to do our part to save the trees and go electronic. I heard this back when I worked on dumb terminals connected to a mainframe and I’ve heard it as recently as yesterday.
Today I decided to do something about it.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m saddled with a Windows XP computer at work in all it’s unstable glory, complete with Office 2003 with all the bells and whistles. When taking trouble calls, I usually keep a pad and pen near me so I can jot down particulars before creating a trouble ticket. I’ve always found this process time consuming. So today I downloaded a trial version of Microsoft OneNote, which is specifically designed for taking notes.
OneNote is geared more towards college students and from what I understand really shines on a TabletPC, which allows you to save handwritten notes using an electronic stylus as a pen, much like a credit card signature pad found at the market or your favorite department or electronics store.
So now I’m poised at the computer electronically jotting notes into OneNote. I’m finding the software interface a little clunky as I retrain myself to click and type instead of just writing, but if I can save a tree or two in the process then it’s all worth it.
It’s a heck of a lot different than that Manpower gig I had back in 1988 where the manager I worked for (as an administrative assistant) asked me to print out all her e-mails for her!
I think I’ll hug a tree in celebration once the weather warms up.
