Why does the paper in Battlestar Galactica have the corners cut off?

One of the major themes of Battlestar Galactica is that "everything has happened before". That's why the human planets looked so similar to contemporary Earth, including architecture and even automobiles.

That said, it stands to reason that different technologies developed at different rates. That might explain why they had faster-than-light drives yet still used relatively primitive projectile weapons.

I know it seems simple, but perhaps the reason for there being no corners was the result of their comparatively unadvanced printer technology? Maybe their method of feeding paper into the print heads required that the paper have a specific orientation.

Further, technology regressed quite a bit as the result of the Cylons rebellion. Perhaps the military or society in general had become paperless, thereby extinguishing the need for paper printing technology, and when they were forced to regress the only technology readily available was, ostensibly, reminiscent of 19th century technology of our time period.

The original series also had the cut corners. It mirrored a number of other visual elements, such as Adama's cloak medallion, the video monitors, etc.

I always took the same "effect" in the re-imagined series to be an homage to the original.

In Blade Runner, Dr. Eldon Tyrell's glasses much resemble the paper in Battlestar Galactica. Edward James Olmos (William Adama) was in Blade Runner (Gaff) and he seems to have been very, I guess, interested with Blade Runner (just my conclusion from watching David Eick's "blog" videos (Olmos mentions Blade Runner more than once). I know it seems like a stretch of the imagination but it's possible that Olmos possibly wanted it in there.

There is an easy, plausible, in-universe answer for the cut corners of all paper articles.

Conservancy. There is no real reason to retain the corners of paper since there is very little data contained there, and every corner removed is that much more paper pulp that goes back into paper production.

Since everything has happened before, perhaps at some point in the past there was a shortage of paper, diminishing forests and resources and the need arose to conserve even tiny bits of paper as a resource, and the practice just "stuck." Just like the push the "reduce, reuse, recycle" of Twenty-First Century Earth.

Over time the right-angle corners of a book tend to get smashed and worn which eventually exposes the book board underneath due to wear. The 3/4 book bind, which puts leather on all the corners and spine, is intended to make the book last longer. Maybe if you cut the corners this is less likely to happen. Although, the idea that they started "cutting corners" to make a point to executives is cute.

People who had to cut all those corners off while working may have been annoyed, but the idea is genius. I mean, it is a notable touch that has generated quite a bit of interest.

I am a bookbinder and would like to know who made the books used on set. Maybe it's time to start cutting some of my own corners!

When shelf space is limited, it is easier to add or remove a book from the tight shelf if the corners of the books are trimmed; it requires less space. Try lifting a large book from the bottom shelf of your book shelf.

The cut corners are simply an element they retained from the original 1978 series: you'd have to talk to the Production Designerof the original series, to get the real answer. I suspect it was at least partially because design in the original was a lot more "sci-fi" than the reboot, and cut corners seemed more alien or exotic.

The efficiency of a space vessel goes down as the weight goes up. In a society of where travel through space is common, weight must be cut from everything including personal effects. Cutting the corners of each book is a no brainer. It may only reduce the weight of one book, but scaled up all the books on a spacecraft, the weight savings is significant.

As already mentioned: information is rarely put in the corners of books, lighter books cost less to ship, and its easier to remove books with rounded or removed corners from shelves and tight spaces. Its a system without any downsides to the user. It's odd that publisher's haven't already done this to just to reduce their shipping costs.

The Show Was Not Consistent

In Season 2, Episode 16 "Sacrifice," at the beginning of the episode when Sesha Abinell is in her office plotting the terrorist attack to get the Cylon Sharon Valerii released to them, the room has paper all over—desk, walls, floor—that all has corners on it.

While this is probably a production mistake, nevertheless it ends up making an anomaly in the universe that shows: (1) not all paper has corners clipped (the paper represents magazine clippings, post-it like notes, photo copy-like papers, etc., so a variety of paper from a variety of sources) and (2) the paper that does have it clipped is even more mysterious as to why it does (in universe).