When the Apollo era J2 engines were built, all the data was stored on paper (mostly lost), punch cards and magnetic tape. The new Space Launch System uses a modified J2-X engine. Necessity, ingenuity and panic and do a lot to overcome obstacles.
Our government and military as well as many businesses from banks, aerospace firms, newspapers and manufacturers invested heavily in computers back when they took up whole buildings. Even though they have data on old material those entities still operate just fine (except for the government part, but that's a different discussion).
Can we go paperless, yes... will we, no.
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