I think it’d look something like this:

50 years: Textbooks mostly gone from schools in many developed countries. Paper might be used occasionally when tech isn’t working, but teaching will be done mostly on computers or tablets. Most kids will have “ugly” handwriting because of they rarely write. The devices kids use to learn might be provided by the school, or some schools school might require kids to bring their own as part of a back to school supplies list.

In the adult world, paper will be mostly gone except like militaries or certain government agencies where secrecy is important. Certain jobs where there are safety procedures to be followed will still have paper instruction manuals.

For the average person’s home, there will be no paper except perhaps a small amount of people who still carry cash. Privacy-concious people will still write on paper. Everyone else just use their phone notes app.

In developing/undeveloped countries, they will be mostly the same but lagged behind developed countries like 30 years.

100 years: Paper is near extinct. Schools no longer have paper except one or two packs of printer paper in the main office probably for redundancy. Tech mostly don’t fail anymore, so any paper probably has been sitting on a shelf somewhere for many years. There would be very few amount of paper left in the world. For security sensitive purposes, air-gapped tablets will replace paper.

From this point on, humanity will move towards a future without paper.

But that’s just my prediction, what do you think?

  • Atarian@vlemmy.net
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    1 year ago

    I’d say they’ll become niche. I don’t think it will go away though.

    I will always use fountain pens and paper until I die, and I think there are enough people out there who will do the same to keep a much reduced industry going.