1Password 8 Printing

First off, I am clawing my way towards a paperless life. Paper causes so many problems and I loathe how much is still on paper that doesn't need to be. However, I have to chime in an echo the same sentiments as those who have posted before me regarding the need to print out a hard copy, even if it's something temporary or to be used as a stepping stone into living the zen life of 1Password that I enjoy. In an ideal world, everyone would use 1Password, but unless you've worked closely with the elderly and some of their families, you might not be able to appreciate just how much of an ask it is to get them to use, maintain, and purchase a subscription to a password manager, let alone most technology. This is a population of people for whom 1Password is becoming a really essential estate planning tool.

Senior citizens are also some of our most vulnerable when it comes to scams which makes it even more crucial to use a password manager with them. Teaching them about their growing digital footprint is a monumental task at times. Many of them are dealing with cognitive decline or recovering from a stroke or illness. Most family members are either unaware or just overwhelmed with this part of aging so they hire help. Paperless in an incredibly hard sell for a lot of senior citizens and their families yet, so upgrading to version 8 will not win them over if they can't have a hard copy. To them, not having a hard copy means out of sight, out of mind and then they will forget all of what 1Password can grow to contain. Many seniors live on a fixed income where their family manage their finances and then we as consultants have to go and try to sell a 1Password subscription to them. I've been doing this for many years and from my experience, it's when I've printed out a hard copy they can store in their safe that they truly see the value in 1Password as an estate planning tool. That's when they will want to pay for it when they can really see and hold in their hands what it does.

I know it's been explained that the printing feature wasn't removed from 1Password 8; that it was just not baked in because it's a rewrite from the ground up, but to those of us who've been using 1Password for ourselves and teaching our clients for a decade or more, it's a lost feature from our perspective and one that WE will have to justify to our clients when we advise them to upgrade. I do not disagree with any of the reasons for why you shouldn't print out passwords. I always discourage my clients from doing so, but some of them are just at a point where they really do need the crutch of paper to even get started using a password manager. It's truly better than the alternative of them writing their passwords on scraps of paper in a disorganized manner that results in data loss or getting locked out.

I believe being able to print hard copy could be a selling feature. You already make it so 1Password users can share their passwords in a web browser to others who don't have 1Password and there's an advertising opportunity when that happens. Why not do something similar with hard copy printouts? Add warnings about why it's better to use 1Password in the cloud and why it's better to share with a Family Plan — put it literally in writing on the printout that explains what will happen when they need to update a password or details about something in their estate planning. Design a 1Password Paper Shredder character and put it on the printouts to encourage them to let go of the paper because their details are safely stored an accessible from the cloud. Give them an opportunity to think about how they could make their family's lives easier with estate management by using software — even if it results in printing paper for a little while to get them around the learning curve and embracing how information can be beautiful.