An examination of why paper continues to fill our offices and a proposal for better coordination of the paper and digital worlds. Over the past thirty years, many people have proclaimed the imminent arrival of the paperless office. Yet even the World Wide Web, which allows almost any computer to read and display another computer's documents, has increased the amount of printing done. The use of e-mail in an organization causes an average 40 percent increase in paper consumption. In The Myth of the Paperless Office, Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper use the study of paper as a way to understand the work that people do and the reasons they do it the way they do. Using the tools of ethnography and cognitive psychology, they look at paper use from the level of the individual up to that of organizational culture. Central to Sellen and Harper's investigation is the concept of "affordances"—the activities that an object allows, or affords. The physical properties of paper (its being thin, light, porous, opaque, and flexible) afford the human actions of grasping, carrying, folding, writing, and so on. The concept of affordance allows them to compare the affordances of paper with those of existing digital devices. They can then ask what kinds of devices or systems would make new kinds of activities possible or better support current activities. The authors argue that paper will continue to play an important role in office life. Rather than pursue the ideal of the paperless office, we should work toward a future in which paper and electronic document tools work in concert and organizational processes make optimal use of both.

Presents a collection of articles on human-computer interaction, covering such topics as applications, methods, hardware, and computers and society.

Is the paperless society really possible? What is the future of paper in the Digital Age? Based on extensive statistics and six separate surveys, Paper to Digital explores the evolution and changing characteristics of documents in the Information Age. Resultant implications are studied through the examination of emerging issues in the digital environment. This timely book represents a useful and scholarly exploration of a major concern in our society.

Streamline your organization by replacing paper documents with electronic solutions Paperless is one part inspiration and two parts instruction. You will be inspired by real-world case studies as you meet people who have brought paperless change to their organizations. You will learn what worked and how you can apply these experiences to your own work. Meet lawyers, doctors, and business leaders who have transformed their operations with Adobe technology. Also, learn how city, state, and federal governments are saving money and providing better services with paperless solutions. The inspiration is just the beginning. The majority of this book is instruction on Adobe’s most important paperless technologies. Each section is full of hands-on demos that will show you how to get real business value from products you may already own. You will learn how to create and use digital signatures, certify PDFs, and integrate dynamic documents with your existing systems. This book explains all you need to know to be on your way to a paperless future. • Read the stories of those who have created today’s leading-edge paperless solutions. • Learn how the Federal Government uses certified PDFs and how New York State uses e-Forms to save millions of dollars. • Find out how the Kane County court system takes advantage of PDF forms to protect abuse victims. • See how one doctor is reducing Medicare costs by replacing expensive emergency room visits with paperless house calls. • Follow in-depth lessons on Acrobat®, LiveCycle® Designer, LiveCycle® ES/ES2, and InDesign® Server. • Download demos, source code, and sample files to use with the book’s exercises (www.paperlessbook.info). “Using real-world examples, such as the ones in J.P. Terry’s Paperless, to illustrate how PDF can be used to move from paper to electronic processes is a simple-to-understand, yet very powerful learning tool for business and government alike.” — Lori DeFurio, Group Product Manager, Acrobat, Adobe Systems “In Paperless, J.P. Terry weaves the business case and technical implementation into a complete story on how a variety of businesses have benefited from Adobe solutions. This book is an enjoyable read and a must-have reference for automating business processes.” — Jeff Stanier, Senior Product Manager, Adobe LiveCycle

Bringing together one of the most important bodies of research into people's working practices, this volume outlines the specific character of the ethnomethodological approach to work, providing an introduction to the key conceptual resources ethnomethodology has drawn upon in its studies, and a set of substantive chapters that examine how people work from a foundational perspective. With contributions from leading experts in the field, including Graham Button, John Hughes and Wes Sharrock, Ethnomethodology at Work explores the contribution that ethnomethodological studies continue to make to our understanding of the ways in which people actually accomplish work from day to day. As such, it will appeal not only to those working in the areas of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, but also to those with interests in the sociology of work and organisations.

“This book will challenge you to rethink what it takes to make remote work work—not just for companies, but for people.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife The future isn’t about where we will work, but how. For years we have struggled to balance work and life, with most of us feeling overwhelmed and burned out because our relationship to work is broken. This “isn't just a book about remote work. It's a book that helps us imagine a future where our lives—at the office and home—are happier, more productive, and genuinely meaningful” (Charles Duhigg, best-selling author of The Power of Habit). Out of Office is a book for every office worker – from employees to managers – currently facing the decision about whether, and how, to return to the office. The past two years have shown us that there may be a new path forward, one that doesn’t involve hellish daily commutes and the demands of jam-packed work schedules that no longer make sense. But how can we realize that future in a way that benefits workers and companies alike? Based on groundbreaking reporting and interviews with workers and managers around the world, Out of Office illuminates the key values and questions that should be driving this conversation: trust, fairness, flexibility, inclusive workplaces, equity, and work-life balance. Above all, they argue that companies need to listen to their employees – and that this will promote, rather than impede, productivity and profitability. As a society, we have talked for decades about flexible work arrangements; this book makes clear that we are at an inflection point where this is actually possible for many employees and their companies. Out of Office is about so much more than zoom meetings and hybrid schedules: it aims to reshape our entire relationship to the office.

Humanity in the twenty-first century is facing what might be described as its ultimate environmental catastrophe: the destruction of the climate that has nurtured human civilization and with it the basis of life on earth as we know it. All ecosystems on the planet are now in decline. Enormous rifts have been driven through the delicate fabric of the biosphere. The economy and the earth are headed for a fateful collision—if we don't alter course. In The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth environmental sociologists John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark, and Richard York offer a radical assessment of both the problem and the solution. They argue that the source of our ecological crisis lies in the paradox of wealth in capitalist society, which expands individual riches at the expense of public wealth, including the wealth of nature. In the process, a huge ecological rift is driven between human beings and nature, undermining the conditions of sustainable existence: a rift in the metabolic relation between humanity and nature that is irreparable within capitalist society, since integral to its very laws of motion. Critically examining the sanguine arguments of mainstream economists and technologists, Foster, Clark, and York insist instead that fundamental changes in social relations must occur if the ecological (and social) problems presently facing us are to be transcended. Their analysis relies on the development of a deep dialectical naturalism concerned with issues of ecology and evolution and their interaction with the economy. Importantly, they offer reasons for revolutionary hope in moving beyond the regime of capital and toward a society of sustainable human development.

Low-tech Magazine underscores the potential of past and often forgotten technologies and how they can inform sustainable energy practices. Sometimes, past technologies can be copied without any changes. More often, interesting possibilities arise when older technology is combined with new knowledge and new materials, or when past concepts and traditional knowledge are applied to modern technology. Inspiration is also to be found in the so-called “developing” world, where resource constraints often lead to inventive, low-tech solutions.

EVER GET THE FEELING that technology is taking over your life and not asking you first? When you've mislaid that important file or can't connect your new camera, do you just want to hurl your computer out of the window? When your kids/friends/grandparents start talking about blogging, podcasting and RSS feeds do you nod as wisely as you can while wrestling with the urge to throw them out of the window too? The bad news is that technology isn't going away. The good news is that, by picking up this book, you're halfway to making it work for you - not against you. Loose Wire is a compilation of Jeremy Wagstaff's most popular weekly columns on personal technology from The Wall Street Journal Asia and the Far Eastern Economic Review. An ordinary person's primer on technology, Loose Wire explains - in jargon-free language and real sentences - what has happened over the past few years, from the rise of the mobile phone to phishing, to where we are heading, as well as hands-on, practical advice about how to enjoy the ride. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jeremy Wagstaff has worked as a journalist since 1986 - for the BBC, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Most of that time has been spent in Asia, covering uprisings, wars, colonial retreats and the odd (sometimes very odd) press conference. No techie, his interest in technology grew out of a realization that it was changing the way journalists - and the world - work, and that following it would probably be a better idea than fighting it. Since 2000 he has been writing a technology column and has since 2004 appeared regularly on the BBC World Service. He also keeps a blog at www.loosewireblog.com.

Iconic Designs is a beautifully designed and illustrated guide to fifty classic 'things' – designs that we find in the city, in our homes and offices, on page and screen, and in our everyday lives. In her introduction, Grace Lees-Maffei explores the idea of iconicity and what makes a design 'iconic', and fifty essays by leading design and cultural critics address the development of each iconic 'thing', its innovative and unique qualities, and its journey to classic status. Subjects range from the late 19th century to the present day, and include the Sydney Opera House, the Post-It Note, Coco Chanel's classic suit, the Sony WalkmanTM, Hello KittyTM, Helvetica, the Ford Model T, Harry Beck's diagrammatic map of the London Underground and the Apple iMac G3. This handsome volume provides a treasure trove of 'stories' that will shed new light on the iconic designs that we use without thinking, aspire to possess, love or hate (or love to hate) and which form part of the fabric of our everyday lives.