The Great Paper Wars
Last updated: Aug. 15, 2009, 11:32 a.m.
No one would have believed in the early days of the 20th century that paper supplies were in the depth of a great war. In stationery shops the world over the supplies of paper were warring amongst themselves over what line pattern was the true master race. The plain paper notebooks had taken an early lead with their free form and unpredictable style. The regimented order of the lined paper soon showed it's strengths though. Organised into coherent collected thoughts the lined paper suppressed the rough sketchings and doodles of the plain paper through superior numbers and tactics.
Neither of these forces could contend with the awesome might of the squared paper which blocked their every move with a contraption of such fiendish cunning. The grid allowed the squares to achieve the order of the lined paper, but it wasn't tied to the linear tactics and words of the lined paper.
This situation held sway for many years with the engineers and designers producing great wonders and designs on their squared note pads. The great order was shattered when the office printer was invented, and the creative thoughts that used to occupy paper, and the innovation was drowned in the flood of management documents, financial reports, and other lengthy and often unhelpful documents produced by committees.
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