These are bold claims backed up by little to no data other than your anecdotal observations. Productivity has generally been on a steady upward trend in the US since it was first measured in 1947. My own professional service business, which does require a decent amount of "bullshit paperwork" would not have been possible at the scale it achieved without technology.
> In contrast, if you tried the same processes few decades ago, it would mean hiring dedicated people on both ends, and the costs - as measured by their salaries - would be clearly visible.
Ever seen Mad Men? There was literally a full floor full of human beings typing out bullshit letters on typewriters because computers didn't exist in the era.
That's my point: those people received salaries for typing out those letters, making the cost of it clearly visible to the business.
Explain that one to me.
They are very much related to use of technology, because they are enabled by technology. The degree of bullshit paperwork every white-collar worker has to deal with nowadays is a direct consequence of computers making it possible to make us do that work, and for the recipients to process it.
The benefits of those processes are whatever they are designed to be, but this creates a false image of net productivity, because the costs are now hidden, smeared across everyone's workload, adding to a vague sense of dissatisfaction and low productivity. In contrast, if you tried the same processes few decades ago, it would mean hiring dedicated people on both ends, and the costs - as measured by their salaries - would be clearly visible.
> I can't believe I'm having to explain to someone the productivity advantages of a system of record to a technology focused crowd...
You don't have to. But you're missing the disadvantages of the situation when maintenance of that system of records becomes a job distributed across everyone. It's not the digital recording per se that's the problem, but the fact that everyone is now also their own secretary.