apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

In business, as hard as it is to believe, there are some people/companies who don't use e-mail, or who don't read it regularly. Faxing is much more reliable for them--not time to throw that out yet.

And I'd hate not to have my landline if my cell phone needs to be charged.

This seems like a list of things that some people could get rid of, not a mandate for everyone to follow.

Some of those are a little...tough. I've lived without a landline for almost 4 years, quite happily. Haven't had a printer at home in equally as long (but get by printing the few docs I need at work). No scanner? Um, yeah, I need that for design work. A camera doesn't always cut it.

And flash drives? I still keep a couple around for moving docs back and forth (work to home, computer to computer, etc.). Like it or not, email is still limited to small files and cloud storage is slow unless you have a killer connection.

I haven't owned a land line in probably 8 years, but it's a little difficult to sign and return a fax when it only exists on your computer...

Also - no printers? None?? That seems stupid.

k.

"little gimmicky gizmos like memory card readers"? I dunno. My 5-in-1 memory card reader is one of the most useful things I have ever owned.

I hate reading text documents on my smart phone, so my printer and scanner, I'll keep.

I do agree with them on landlines being worthless. I couldn't even tell you the last time I actually used a phone that was tied to a land line.

I would note that the article makes a caveat that these items may still be useful in a professional context. Given that stipulation I have to agree with the majority of what the article states. I am on the brink with the scanner though. I am going to have to play with taking pictures of documents, importing onto my system and converting to PDF using another tool. Seems like life would be easier with just a scanner. I fax infrequently enough that the charges at my nearest Kinkos/Public Library are negligible.

Umm, FYI, if you're calling 911 from an area code that doesn't match the area code you're in, your call goes straight to highway patrol. Completely ineffective when you call because there's a rapist trying to let himself into your home. Especially since it takes the police a good 30 minutes to show up.
You shouldn't give up your landline just yet....

Lists like this demonstrate how out of touch with the demands of real life people who make their living sitting in their homes writing blog articles to try and increase their page counts are as opposed to those who actually work in offices or have work which is interactive.

• If you need to scan text, then you have to have a scanner. Unless you've got one incredible camera, the quality of the text will not be sharp enough. Also, for digitzing my family photos, I'd never go with a picture of a picture.

• If you have to give any paperwork to a government agency, client, student, etc., you need a printer. People aren't going to be satisfied looking at the digital record on your mobile phone screen.

• Some people don't need a landline, but those of us with DSL have one anyway (so why not use it) and I need one for my work which requires a specific headset that connects to a non-mobile phone. What I don't have or need is a cell phone. I'd say it's better to state that you don't need both a land line and a cell, not that you should necessarily ditch your land line.

• No optical drive. Um, yeah, only if you don't need to share data with anyone else. How am I going to give someone else a copy of a large file or collection of files without loaning them my hard drive if I can't burn a disc? Not everyone wants to transfer gigabytes of data over their internet connection. Not everyone can do it even if they want to.

• Faxes are more secure than e-mail. I don't use one at all, but I know people and businesses that use them exclusively for sensitive information.

How are we supposed to make that multi-page PDF from our physical documents to email if we don't have a scanner?

About the only thing on this list that I can agree with is getting rid of landlines. I have a landline still and I never use it. I would get rid of it but it's actually cheaper to keep it than to get rid of it (because of a package deal from Comcast).

Other than that, I've used everyone of the other items on the list at least once in the past month...

I don't own a printer at home, and haven't had a landline for at least five years. I wouldn't own a scanner at home, but it's something that I can use as necessary at work or a computer-oriented business, much like a printer.

And, though I also wouldn't own a fax machine at home (no landline), I'm always amazed at the sheer volume of business faxes I get.

In order to have a 95% paperless filling cabinet, I need my scanner! I'd much rather have a scanner than a humongous file cabinet. I'll agree with optical drives, most software has a download on their site, etc. I really wish Fax machines would go away, comon' ppl, email isn't a new concept here. As for printing, I need it for design work but avoid printing whenever possible, filling anything, or email myself.