A Paperless Life

My goal was always to live a paperless life and looking at it now I realize that I hardly do anything on paper any more, the printer is basically not in use. So, for which reasons do I still use paper.

1) Printing out directions

Solution: Getting a GPS Navigation device.

How/What:

1) Buying a new car with GPS built in. Well, this would be the most costly solution and I still would not have a GPS navigation device that I can carry in my hand though.

2) Buying  a GPS navigation device. Here I would prefer the TomTom GO 930 T. Considerable cheaper than buying a car and I simply like the TomTom line. The high end device comes with the newest maps of US, Canada and Europe which I prefer because I am planning not only to navigate in the US but Europe as well.

3) Buying a smartphone that has built in GPS and a turn-by-turn navigation app available. My choice: The Google G1 phone with TeleNav. It is easy to carry in your hand and not as bulky as the TomTom and you can make phone calls with it as well. :-)

Side note: Please consider also the two different approaches of GPS navigation devices, maps being available on/off server. The TomTom does not rely on a connection to a server where you get your maps from, hence you only pay once for the maps and you can use them without having to wonder if you have a connection to a server. If you use a GPS navigation device that is pulling the map from a server you have the advantage of always having the up to date maps but you also are dependent on a connection that provides you with the data. For this solution you typically pay a monthly fee and not a one time payment as when you purchase the maps.

Tip: Don’t confuse the connection to the server with the GPS connection to the satellites. Both systems need to establish a connection in oder to work with GPS.

2) Taking notes

I am already reusing paper by taking notes on the back of already written-on paper but I still can do better.

Solution: Getting a Smart Pen

How/What: Buying a Pulse Smartpen by Livescribe. I am simply in love with this pen and regret that I did not have this solution as I was still studying at University. It would have prevented me of having a hard time with some professors that were simply hard to follow at their lectures. Best thing: you can record the meeting, the class etc. while taking notes so you can simply rehear certain parts when your notes do not make any sense to you or you missed parts of it. Furthermore you even share your notes online. Currently you still need special paper, but in the near future I hope of a paperless version. But in my opinion there is currently still one solution to be able to make it work: Disappearing ink. ;-)

More in-depth discussion from my inventor’s heart about a paperless version:

0) The basis: First of all with a paperless version I mean you have one sheet you write on and when you are done taking notes you can simply erase the sheet or ink and start over new. As pointed out there are two possible ways.

1) The sheet version: When I think of erasing the sheet I think of something like in Etch A Sketch but much more sophisticated by using e-paper. I can imagine that this solution is much more complicated and expensive than the ink version.

2) The ink version: As mentioned already earlier it could be possible to use some form of disappearing ink that reacts on a certain impulse and disappears.

3) The plastic foil version: In my opinion the cheapest solution would be placing a plastic foil over the sheet that you can easily wipe off with a sponge, like a magic slate. :-)

3) Reading a book

I love books and I always wanted to read as many as possible in my lifetime.

Solution: Getting an E-book reader

How/What: My clear choice is the Kindle 2. You get the book of choice delivered free over the air within 60 seconds for a reduced price ($ 9.99) compared to their … in paper. And there is more: Get your newspaper delivered to your Kindle! No need to look in newspaper boxes if there is still one left (oh, and no search for coins), no need to leave even the house, not even to get the paper off your lawn, etc. You can even get your favorite magazine delivered to you. One of my favorite also: bookmarking! And do not forget the advantage of how easy it is going to be the next time you move, instead of boxes with heavy books you just carry 10.2 ounces. :-)

These are currently my own paperless solutions. If I encounter further situations where I can spare paper I will update this post.

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