Over the past 20 years, the office workplace has dramatically changed. The days of paper piles, staplers and tape dispenser appears to be dwindling while email, instant messaging and electronic documents have become the norm. Why has this change occurred? Efficiency is one reason why the technological boom is embraced by the workplace. Businesses are accomplishing more in a shorter amount of time.

The typewriter has long been a staple in the workplace since its inception in the 1800s. Writers stuff a sheet of paper into the machine and fill the page with ink as they type. Mistakes seemed to be permanently stuck to the page until the advent of White Out and typewriter correction tape. Even with these correction tools, the process often left writers wanting a more efficient and less permanent way to put their words onto paper.

The personal computer has been the answer to the cries of office writers. Before a drop of ink hits the page, writers can easily backspace over mistakes and do a full review of the paper. Spell check and grammar check are tools left from most typewriters. I think we all can attest to the beauty of these two tools.

Where does your paper go once it leaves the computer (or typewriter)? Most offices still have the space hogging metal file cabinets lying around. These archaic beasts not only became the depository for thousands of sheets of paper, but also have wreaked havoc on the lower back of movers! Those working in a paper environment have witnessed the "disappearing paper" syndrome too, where the filer of the document swears it was placed in the proper place. However, the document later disappears. Personal computer hard drives have now become the archives for documents.

If you're having a hard time finding the electronic file, you can easily sort through the storage space by date or by file type. Products like Ark Works have made the e-file cabinet a reality. It's much easier digging for those files on a computer then digging through mountains of paper.

It hasn't been that long that we've had the luxury of digital products in our age of electronics. You can count on computers becoming faster, and office efficiency being greater. In 20 years from now we'll reflect on how archaic our technology was in the 21st century. What about the typewriter? It won't be long until it sits in a museum or antique shop.