Readers Suggest Dropbox
Summary: Doc loves Dropbox and services like it, and agrees that for many projects a PDF file or native Office file can be just as effective (or maybe more so) than a printed version. But, for many things, print is still the vehicle of choice, like it or not.
Doc did a column a while back wherein I whined about the poor paper choices many organizations make when printing out documents. I made the point that using high-quality paper is worth the extra cost if it makes a good impression on customers or employees.
Several people wrote in on that entry, suggesting that instead of printing at all, it would be worth looking at Dropbox. As many of you know, Dropbox lets people bring their docs, photos, and videos everywhere and share them easily. The service has more than 45 million users in 175 countries saving one billion files every three days. Dropbox was founded in San Francisco in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi.
Doc loves Dropbox and services like it, and agrees that for many projects a PDF file or native Office file can be just as effective (or maybe more so) than a printed version. But, for many things, print is still the vehicle of choice, like it or not.
And I stick by my original point, which is that if it’s worth printing, it’s worth decent paper to put it on.
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Doc
ZDNet introduces Doc (The DocuMentor), sponsored by RICOH. Through his blog, Doc will educate you about Document Management. So who is Doc? Doc is something of an enigma. He was born to a Russian ballerina and a German electrical engineer who some believe was running covert operations for shadowy corporate interests. Doc grew up in various locations in the United States, although no one seems to know precisely where, least of all Doc. His early schooling was unremarkable except for the time he was caught trying to replace all the mimeograph machines with high-tech color copiers that had mysteriously disappeared from a shipment to Albania. At MIT, he made a name for himself by transforming a large printer into a robot that hunts and eats Roombas. Professionally, he reportedly has seen the insides of more brands, versions, and generations of printer and printer-related hardware than almost anyone. Some say his obsession with paper, printing, and mechanical movement was either started by, or evidenced by, a traumatic childhood episode when he crawled inside an old Xerox 2400 and tried to print himself.
Anyway, Doc has hands on experience with stuff like printer maintenance and fleet management, but his mastery of document management leaves no stone unturned. Important issues like sustainability, security, and regulatory compliance are top of mind for Doc, as are other business technology needs like networking and IT services, making him a true blue IT renaissance man.
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