2017 not 1997. Why are some people still using paper documents?

Walking to work this morning, i saw a lady with one of those small luggage bags with wheels that you often see lawyers with walking along the footpath in front of me, and it got me thinking. This is supposed to be the paperless society. Why are there still people with luggage bags full of paper? This is 2017, not 1997!

Before you get on the comments and say things like "I need to carry A3 drawings around" and stuff like that, i understand that there are cases where you will need to bring big folders of A3+ sized technical drawings or visual stuff. I get that. My point is more about why people are still carrying around documents on paper. A4 sizes (or Letter for those countries who are still using the old imperial system).

Its 2017 people! We have reliable and secure cloud-based storage systems these days. We have apps available to us on our phones that allow us to scan receipts and store them in cloud storage. Cloud storage systems have multiple redundancies to prevent your data from going missing, deleted, or accessed without your permission. These cloud providers have multiple data centres around the world with your data synchronised so its always available to you. Cloud systems have a lower fail rate than paper systems and in many cases use stronger-than-bank encryption. You can access your information anywhere, as long as you have a data connection, and transfer it to anyone else that may need it. In most jurisdictions, a digital signature is as legally binding as a wet signature. Tablet devices (both Android and Apple) these days allow you to scribble on a page and it converts it instantly to text.

Paper gets lost, damaged, the ink fades, it deteriorates and disintegrates. Its messy and takes up space and not to mention the amount of damage to the environment creating it is causing.

There's a guy at my workplace which has digitalised everything. He is so meticulous with it too. He is the full paperless office. If someone prints something and puts it on his desk, he asks for the digital copy. If it's a paper copy only, he scans it and files it in a filing system he has the cloud. All his notes are done via his iPad (often with the apple pencil) and saved to Evernote, or straight into Word on the iPad. He uses Adobe Acrobat Pro to digitally sign documents so he doesn't need to print anything. When he gets receipts from taxi's or purchases, he uses an app called TurboScan to scan it in digitally and store it in his Dropbox. Everything he does is paperless now. He works with government departments on a daily basis, who are notorious for using old methods, including printing everything and requiring signatures on paper, but he makes it work, so you can't tell me that its not possible. Incidentally, he's an older guy too, so again, its not an age thing.

Sorry about the rant, i just feel like paper is much like fiat currencies. Its old and outdated, but a majority of the population aren't willing to let go of their old habits.

Keen to hear your thoughts in the comments below