Consider that just 50 years ago almost all record keeping was done by use of huge banks of filing cabinets. In fact, these would stretch for hundreds of yards in office environment warehouses. Today, the entire written file contents of that stadium sized warehouse can easily be housed on one simple compact flash drive. Still, filing cabinets serve a purpose in the office as they offer protection from fire and theft. Lower profile cabinets are perfect for holding an additional monitor or computer printer. With teleconferencing being so prevalent today, that same low profile cabinet can be used as a decorative peace anywhere in the executive office holding a large television screen.
None of this is to say that the original planned purpose of the file cabinet is obsolete. Far from it, as legality requires documents to be on paper and signed and those same documents need to be kept in a basically secure container. The range of style for these cabinets has changed to accommodate higher volume and roll out design. Yet still the original four drawer stand up cabinet is basically unchanged in measurement since its inception in the late 19th century.