Two types of taxpayers: analog and digital

Everyone’s “favorite” time of year is upon us… tax day. You might ask what does storage have to do with taxes? I asked myself the same question.

When you think about digital content in general, you have to think hard drives, and taxes are not immune to the trend of everything going digital. Look at the exponential growth of electronically filing your taxes. Since 1997, the number of people filing their taxes electronically has increased 368%, yet today just more than half of individuals file taxes electronically. Perhaps it’s due to a lack of access, or fear, or simply a sense of comfort in filing the old way – pen to paper.

More and more people have access to a computer whether it’s their own, or via the public library, and more an more people have broadband, so that problem will take care of itself. Maybe it’s fear. Some people are more comfortable sticking their taxes in an envelope and mailing it in to the IRS, yet filing electronically is 100% encrypted and secure, and is digitized and encrypted in it’s final resting spot at the IRS is saved on encrypted hard drives, so data on the loose is a diminishing issue. I guess it comes down to comfort level. A certain % of the population will always be analog. They read newspapers and take pictures on film, so we won’t hold it against them for not adopting the digital age. Yet, rest assured, the day will come when filing electronically will be the only way to submit your taxes to the IRS. That day may not be in the next 5-10 years, but for sure it’s coming.

Long live digital content…even if it’s content everyone cringes at creating.

Are you analog or digital?