Thanks for the response CajunCharlie. I think you got to the heart of why I asked, because so much of this process is electronic these days I was thinking the "killing trees" impact would not be as significant and the tidyness of a clean revised version of the original would make for clearer final contract.
The thought of initialling every page including exhibits, drawings and specs of a large construction job is kind of scary, but I bet you've never had any issues with version control.