Imagine the amount of work involved in making something look like paper. It really seems to border on a big waste of time. Computers can do lots of things paper

Imagine the amount of work involved in making something look like paper. It really seems to border on a big waste of time. Computers can do lots of things paper can't, and paper can do lots of things computers can't. So why spend countless man- and machine-hours emulating minor details (grain, texture, absorption) of one in the other?