RL peeves! >< @$!#
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Even the IRS is paperless. Entire accounting firms are moving to not only paperless systems but to the cloud as well.
I take notes and then I either scan or type them where they're supposed to be filed, strictly because the act of writing helps me learn. All of my work is paperless, school, business, all.
But @2mspris was pointing out severe class disadvantages and bad IT policy more than anything. It isn't a well thought out system in her area. And they're dumb.
I have the option here of magnet schools. After meeting a few of the local private school kids, I won't send mine to private school. I'm not religious anyhow and they're snots here and poorly socialized. We always have the public online k-12 as an option here too.
Fun? What is this fun thou speakest of?
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"The Public Schools" are not the same everywhere. Just like just because something is a private school doesn't mean that there is not even more coddling and kowtowing to parental demands that the specialness of their snowflake be attended to.
All throughout elementary school my kids never submitted anything by email. For one big project in both 5th and 6th grade they had to type up their reports (in addition to giving oral presentations along with their powerpoints as well as fielding questions and comments from teacher/class on the fly). They did receive computer lab instruction starting in the 3rd grade to help them learn the skills they'd need for those projects. Until then (and even until the final draft) all work was handwritten.
In 7th grade my daughter submits some things by email/google docs. Some of her textbooks are online too (she has to check out the paper kind from the library or use them during class, which is irritating because we don't have the money for an updated laptop (and all 3 bigs must share it) or an additional computer right now and her kindle is so old it won't accept the new formatting. But considering that my last college experience when I went back to school it seemed like most of the core education courses were submitting stuff via email or the equivalent, I suppose that's the way of the world now. So I'd rather her learn to manage that shit in 7th and 8th grade than in 9th or even worse college when it really counts.
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@Luna said:
Even the IRS is paperless. Entire accounting firms are moving to not only paperless systems but to the cloud as well.
While the definition of 'cloud' is most often 'someone else's servers' I have to wonder if those firms really know what they're doing. I'm sure most do but the ones signing themselves up for that $20/month packages are in for such a rude awakening when things start to go boom.
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And when I went back to school this last time a couple of years ago, every single textbook I bought was also available in electronic format, even for rental! (At considerably lower cost). I chose to not go that route because I'm an old fart and I still haven't totally gotten used to reading stuff like books without paper to hand, though considering how much the computer is essential even to something like my massage business (most of the insurance companies are now moving over to submitting referrals and even SOAP notes via the computer rather than faxing in a form), I may repurchase the ones I use for references electronically so I can have everything in one place.
I still as a practitioner don't feel comfortable with keeping all patient records online--but I know quite a few LMPs that are moving that way. So while I can totally see a doctor just scanning in their notes right now, I believe that may be a generational thing and that's likely to die out. At my HMO even the prescriptions are electronic and sent to pharmacy of choice. You don't get a piece of paper to carry anywhere, and I've watched the doctor type it out right here on the computer that's in every exam room.
But that being said, I do think it's important for kids to learn how to write by hand (both printing and cursive).
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@Misadventure said:
You can write on a digital surface, which bypasses the use of paper until needed, and lets one develop their hand writing.
Three words for you: "Eat up, Martha."
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To the assholes who are taking up three tables (all of the ones by the plug ins) in the cafeteria, but are all CLEARLY TOGETHER: Fuck you.
Just seriously.
Fuck you.
Condense yourselves down to one or even TWO tables, and allow me to sit near the outlets without having to be knocked in the side when you decide to jump around all animated at your fucking Magic game.
I hate you so goddamned much.
Every time someone stops and stares my cord strung from the wall to the table (about four feet) and glares at me, or nudges it with their food and glares at me, I hate EVEN FUCKING MORE.
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Speaking of paper. I don't know what it is. If the book isn't on my shelf, I don't want it. All these bindle kidget reader whackadoodle whatevers. I spend far too much time starring at a monitor as it is, let alone starring at one for my recreation's recreation. I'm glad we have like a dozen used bookstores around here and several libraries.
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You do know that there are ereaders out there that are designed to mimic regular ink on a page, right? So they don't have the same effect as reading a screen?
eInk is amazing.
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@Arkandel said:
While the definition of 'cloud' is most often 'someone else's servers' I have to wonder if those firms really know what they're doing. I'm sure most do but the ones signing themselves up for that $20/month packages are in for such a rude awakening when things start to go boom.
How secure do you think Joe CPA's computer and wifi are? The answer is not very. However, he's most likely to be doing straight taxes rather than bookkeeping. The forms doing controller and CFO outsourcing are more advanced.
A lot of your $20/month accounting SaaS is by businesses themselves. It's the promised land to owners who think Xero is going to be a sweet and easy DIY solution. Then they end up having to hire someone to fix what they fucked up.
More firms are migrating to private clouds with VPNs and everything from platform to software as a service. Besides, people migrate from one software to another all the time.
Fun? What is this fun thou speakest of?
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And now my table has been invaded, by people who cannot be polite enough to be quiet. Grr.
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@Luna said:
A lot of your $20/month accounting SaaS is by businesses themselves. It's the promised land to owners who think Xero is going to be a sweet and easy DIY solution. Then they end up having to hire someone to fix what they fucked up.
When someone pays $20 then they get $20's worth. So yes, when things are working it's all good and you are getting a great deal. For regular users where you don't care about 24/7 availability with data redundancies built in (such as say, when I use Google Drive for my RP logs) it's all good.
However when shit hits the fan they're also going to get $20's worth of service though. If the hosting company's data center has issues that accounting firm's needs will be pretty damn near the end of the queue while some poor sysadmin runs around to bring up more critical systems (which are paid for quite a bit more handsomely).
- He who takes offense when not intended is a fool. He who takes offense when intended is a greater fool.
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@Cobaltasaurus said:
You do know that there are ereaders out there that are designed to mimic regular ink on a page, right? So they don't have the same effect as reading a screen?
eInk is amazing.
This is why I love my e-reader but have zero need for a tablet. I need to get away from my laptop/work PC glare at the end of the day. E-ink is specifically designed not to cause eye strain. It does feel, to me at least, comparable to reading printed text. I still like the tactile nature of a printed book, but an e-ink reader works fine as a substitute and keeps my home library from swelling beyond the one wall-length shelf. The idea of reading on an Ipad or similar device for long periods of time, I cannot fathom, but it's a very different experience.
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@Three-Eyed-Crow said:
This is why I love my e-reader but have zero need for a tablet. I need to get away from my laptop/work PC glare at the end of the day. E-ink is specifically designed not to cause eye strain. It does feel, to me at least, comparable to reading printed text. I still like the tactile nature of a printed book, but an e-ink reader works fine as a substitute and keeps my home library from swelling beyond the one wall-length shelf. The idea of reading on an Ipad or similar device for long periods of time, I cannot fathom, but it's a very different experience.
Yeah, reading on a tablet sucks. The battery life alone makes it not worth it.
I can't get comfortable with paper-books any more, I think it's as much a matter of habit as anything else. With the exception of material designed in a format that makes ebook readers a bad fit (say, technical manuals with diagrams, non-free flowing text with set columns, large page layouts like RPG books etc) I wouldn't go back even without the other advantages you mention.
The only time I remember hating my Kobo was during a commute back from work (i.e. in the train and about to get really bored). The bloody thing froze, something which happens very rarely but which actually requires a hardware reset - and that needs you to push a needle into a tiny hole to press the button. I of course had no such thing handy - normal books don't tend to stop working on you.
- He who takes offense when not intended is a fool. He who takes offense when intended is a greater fool.
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I am over 20 feet from you and in a busy cafe and I can hear you chew.
Stop.
Yes, I'm staring at you for a reason.
edit: Oh god, you're a grunter, too. Stand, grunt. Shift weight, grunt. Maybe I'm too Victorian, but all of that grosses me out.
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Being able to hear someone eat is one of the most rage inducing experiences for me. Most of the time it's just annoying, but if someone is a breather and a grunter when they eat -- I just want to take a fork and stab them in the eyeball to make them stop.
CLOSE YOUR FUCKING MOUTH.
I'm well aware this is not reasonable in any manner.
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@Arkandel said:
I can't get comfortable with paper-books any more, I think it's as much a matter of habit as anything else. With the exception of material designed in a format that makes ebook readers a bad fit (say, technical manuals with diagrams, non-free flowing text with set columns, large page layouts like RPG books etc) I wouldn't go back even without the other advantages you mention.
If a color e-ink equivalent existed that was big enough to read a comic or RPG book on, I would be the first in line to buy it. I suspect the market for it is even smaller than the market for e-readers, though, so I'm not holding out much hope for something like that.
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@Three-Eyed-Crow said:
If a color e-ink equivalent existed that was big enough to read a comic or RPG book on, I would be the first in line to buy it. I suspect the market for it is even smaller than the market for e-readers, though, so I'm not holding out much hope for something like that.
The 10 inch Galaxy Tab S my wife got me for Christmas is a comic-book reading dream.
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On the school subject... all of my kids' work is still in paper form. Projects, essays, homework, everything. Also... administration can be good or bad, just like everything else. The administration at my teen's school? HORRIBLE. I go straight up the ladder to the district level for everything with him anymore because the school's administration seems to have an unspoken policy that everything is always the child's fault at all times... even when it isn't. When they gave the End of Quarter exams to my teen, the teacher giving the test insisted all the kids leave their cellphones on a ledge at the back of the room, and were told they could get their phone after they turned in their test. The teacher then promptly ignored the phones from that point on, allowing my son's phone to get stolen. The school did nothing, claims no responsibility, and refuses to reprimand the teacher for being a goddamn idiot. We had to pay the insurance fee to get him a new phone sent out for something he was forced to do by a teacher. The administration at my younger son's school, however, are INFINITELY more helpful and understanding. They've worked with me to ensure my youngest has everything he needs and all the help he could want when he's having trouble.
On manners... I still have to remind my teen that he needs to slow down, take smaller bites, and CLOSE HIS MOUTH. Because yeah, its disgusting and nobody needs to see/hear him hoovering his food. Thankfully, his younger brother has better table manners. >.>
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@Arkandel Right! Luckily accounting firms worth their salt know that you get what you pay for. Business owners don't put an importance on proper accounting, or they do and they just haven't a clue about basic things, like that a balance sheet should balance. Hence it's called...wait for it...a balance sheet. Genius. Also things like 'what do you mean I shouldn't use Mint for my business accounting?' >.<
I will say though, even owners that spend thousands on an accounting program totally fail. But that's ok, fixing their idiot mistakes makes me monies. I actually service my clients virtually, though at this moment I have my own server set up. I'm looking at various ways to change this and streamline in the future.
There's a definate need for accounting nerds who can also work a computer above a very basic level. I don't know why IT skills and accounting skills are so disconnected in many people.
Fun? What is this fun thou speakest of?
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@Luna said:
There's a definate need for accounting nerds who can also work a computer above a very basic level. I don't know why IT skills and accounting skills are so disconnected in many people.
Then when it's all over and the rest of you are ready for Dead Animal Pickup, I'm gonna go balls deep into Dahl. But only because she asked me to. Sweet-like. - Riddick (2013)
