Treeware

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What Does Treeware Mean?

Treeware refers to any documentation, manual, text or diagrams that are printed on standard physical paper rather than published in a digital format. Treeware includes all print material produced on paper created from trees. It is used by technology practitioners to separate it from electronic/digital publishing.

Techopedia Explains Treeware

This term is often attributed to American author and online writer John Scalzi. While he didn’t coin the term, it was mentioned it in a 2005 blog post that discussed e-book piracy. In the context of the ongoing digital revolution, treeware persists, but may be losing ground to the digital formats that are becoming increasingly accessible thanks to mobile technology.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.