The 8008 1776

Ah, the "global village", a '70s concept that never came to pbutt. In fact, just the opposite has happened - people are crowding ever more tightly into urban areas, and are now enjoying the benefits: congestion, pollution, crime, and rapidly-spreading disease.

Again, this goes back to the "paperless office", another '70s dream that didn't make it.

I think we're working against human nature here. Many people seem unable to deal with something unless it's on a piece of paper. It might be because they have an instinctive need to scribble all over the paper to organize their thoughts. Even if it's nothing more than making marks beside the numbers they're looking at, most people seem to be wired in such a way that they can't think without doodling. You can't doodle very well on a computer screen.

Add to this the flood of cheap laser printers, and there goes another forest.

Never fear, we'll find other ways to pee it away. If nothing else, population growth will overwhelm efficiency through sheer force of numbers.

Either that, or we'll have to create a new pool of cheap labour. Refugees are good for that, and between natural disasters and wars there should be a continuing supply.

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