There has been great change in the world with respect to computers. They have changed our world globally. We connect to people all over the world via the Internet. Computers make businesses and industries more efficient. Business transactions occur between countries in seconds. The media can bring information from around the world as it happens. Computer can store much more information and data than ever before. In the early 70's when computers were starting out it was forecasted that our society would become paperless. That everything would be stored digitally, it has been over thirty years since this prediction, and many feel that a paperless society will never happen that computers have added in the increase of paper output. In my opinion, I disagree and feel that a paperless society is just around the corner and possible. It is changing in all aspects of society and the way we spend money is my prime example.
Just as the library card catalog is going the way of the dinosaurs, the way people spend money has changed. There is a popular commercial that shows a man using a credit card and leaves his presidents (money) at home. The idea of a paperless spending world involves the use of credit cards and ACH, automatic clearinghouses. In the book, Money, by Robert Young we learn that historically spending started by bartering. People traded goods and services. By the 1200's the Chinese were using paper money. These notes could be traded in for gold or silver. In the 1970 with the ability to transfer fund electronically, Credit Card systems were born. The word Credit comes from Credo, which mean I promise. The card enables the purchase to pay the merchant or service provider at a later time. This decreased the need for paper money. This parallels a paperless society because computers perform the same service. "This rush to digitize is being driven by powerful economic incentives, including the ability to make perfect copies of digital artifacts and to distribute and disseminate them over networks "all at a much lower cost that had been known previously.
