TECHNOLOGY : New Software Lets PCs Take Orders From Paper

Xerox Corp. on Monday introduced software that lets people use paper to communicate with personal computers, an invention that allows long-distance computing by facsimile machine.

The breakthrough product, which for the first time makes paper an interactive part of a PC, can retrieve, store, distribute and organize documents from afar, following personalized written instructions.

“The significance is that it allows information to be removed and used from a distant location, and without another PC,” said Tim Bajarin, an industry analyst with Creative Strategies International Inc. in Santa Clara. “That a paper document can do this is the revolutionary part.”

PaperWorks was conceived by electronic and social scientists working at Xerox’s well-respected Palo Alto Research Center, credited with inventing the personal computer in the 1970s and the laser printer more recently. Xerox, based in Rochester, N.Y., is best known for inventing copy machines.

Smith, one of the PaperWorks inventors, said the center had been working on the software package for three years after deciding that a “paperless” office could never be accomplished despite high-tech machines.

“Sometimes paper is just the right medium,” Smith said. “We’re creating a bridge that moves information back and forth, whether it’s on paper or on a PC. It’s a move toward the realization about how people actually work.”

The $249.95 PaperWorks was written for PCs with an Intel Corp. 386 or 486 microprocessor, or “brain,” and with Microsoft Corp.’s popular Windows operating system, which controls software programs. The computer also has to have fax board software installed so it can send and receive faxes.