Paper is still mighty convenient, no doubt about it. Light, marked in long-lasting pencil or ink, inexpensive, silent and needing no electricity. It's been a leading technology for a very long time and likely to stay that way.
However, getting information in a computer file has big advantages. Making a copy of something on paper requires special machinery and time and ink. Sending a copy of this message to 50 or 5000 people is instantaneous and is always available without depending on ink supply or blank paper supply.
More importantly, in a computer file, the information is searchable. It is quick to look back over of a page of paper but computers (and Kindles) can search hundreds of pages very quickly.
In Excel and many spreadsheets, information can be arranged in rows and columns, typically using the columns for different attributes and the rows for the examples, such as names, addresses, phone numbers. They all can sort so that all the citizens of Utah are listed together temporarily or permanently. Excel also can leave the information in a set form and sample it instantly, so that just the citizens of Utah are plucked out of the list for examination or copying and then returned correctly. Instant filing!
The instant copying and dispersing applies to such organized information, too. That is why it is often better to get information in electronic files than stable, old, unmodifiable paper.
