Will Writing Exist in 100 years?
January 26th 2010 22:03
Question: With the world evolving by the minute, there are more people texting, facebook-ing, and tweeting. With the way things are going, our children aren't writing as much as we did. Instead they are typing. So the question is, will writing ever be completely replaced with typed text?
Answer: Yes, but not within the next century. A lot has to happen in order for something as common as writing to completely disappear.
1) There has to be a way for people to type on the go. Texting and the newer notebooks have
helped, but nothing quite matches up to the "Post It" notes or simply writing on your hand.
2) A new form of security must be created. Hand writing recognition has been a key way for cops to catch criminals (I think so at least, I'm no cop). If everything is typed, everything is anonymous. Sure, there are IP addresses to help identify where it came from. But it doesn't say WHO did it. It just tells you the general area in which the event took place. And besides, with the amount of electronics hacked and material pirated these days, who says that someone can't hack into an online bank account?
3) It's expensive. An iPod touch that holds 8GB worth of memory now costs $99. At times like
these where not everybody can afford something as fancy as that, a pen and paper seem much more convenient.
4) Some people are just old fashioned. I'm not talking about the old people who say, "When I was your age, the dinosaurs were still around". I'm talking about the people who can't find the "on" switch of a computer but have read an entire libraries' worth of books. Some people just find it easier to read off of paper than off of a screen.
5) For writing to disappear, there has to be a new way for someone to identify themselves. Even today, when you buy something with a credit card, you sign an electronic board to show that you approved the purchase. Although it is on electronic equipment, it still counts as writing. There has to be a new way to approve things like these. The easiest would be with fingerprints, but again, this is expensive.
That's all for today's segment for "Anything or Everything?". If you have a suggestion for a future blog, please leave it in the comments below. And what do you think? Will writing survive technology?
-Written by: Nakamura. This article is copyrighted © by Nakamura and may not be reproduced, recopied, or used in any form without permission from Nakamura
Answer: Yes, but not within the next century. A lot has to happen in order for something as common as writing to completely disappear.
1) There has to be a way for people to type on the go. Texting and the newer notebooks have
Today's teens have found a new way to communicate
2) A new form of security must be created. Hand writing recognition has been a key way for cops to catch criminals (I think so at least, I'm no cop). If everything is typed, everything is anonymous. Sure, there are IP addresses to help identify where it came from. But it doesn't say WHO did it. It just tells you the general area in which the event took place. And besides, with the amount of electronics hacked and material pirated these days, who says that someone can't hack into an online bank account?
3) It's expensive. An iPod touch that holds 8GB worth of memory now costs $99. At times like
Apple's iPod Touch
4) Some people are just old fashioned. I'm not talking about the old people who say, "When I was your age, the dinosaurs were still around". I'm talking about the people who can't find the "on" switch of a computer but have read an entire libraries' worth of books. Some people just find it easier to read off of paper than off of a screen.
5) For writing to disappear, there has to be a new way for someone to identify themselves. Even today, when you buy something with a credit card, you sign an electronic board to show that you approved the purchase. Although it is on electronic equipment, it still counts as writing. There has to be a new way to approve things like these. The easiest would be with fingerprints, but again, this is expensive.
That's all for today's segment for "Anything or Everything?". If you have a suggestion for a future blog, please leave it in the comments below. And what do you think? Will writing survive technology?
-Written by: Nakamura. This article is copyrighted © by Nakamura and may not be reproduced, recopied, or used in any form without permission from Nakamura
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Comment by Norm
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Comment by Nakamura
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Comment by The wonderful Peter Yang
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Comment by tropix
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Ah, the joys of evolution!
Comment by Danceswithwords
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I'm laughing and perhaps uncontrollably at "writing" disappearing, and hopefully "reading" would shortly follow. Maybe they are inexplicably linked like chickens and eggs... Well at first glance anyway. Handwriting more specifically could definitely go, as we continue to evolve...
My analogy would be that we all used to be really hairy. Both men and women. All over. We now spend millions of dollars exfoliating using technology. Future generations will continue to evolve with less hair, because it lacks a function. Smooth aliens will agree with handwriting being unnecessary. Well except for that film where that guy writes all over his lover with a calligraphy pen... No not Caligula ;o(
Ironically, it's thanks to technology (texting) according to a couple of unnamed geneticists... that we will no longer lose the use of our thumbs. Thumbs up to that!!!
It's great to ponder, to ask now of what the future may hold... What may seem completely crazy and outrageous to most and get them to put down their opinions in the face of what will read like we are morons in hundreds of years... like the duck and cover strategy in the 50's to avoid nuclear attack... albeit this is now being read aloud in a sexy computerised voice with the now non-existent forms of writing or reading... I'm guessing we will still be able to talk? (Yes it's rhetorical)
My head is spinning, so for now I'd recommend we wait for the going back time machine to take us back to the point in time where we posed this question in the first place and answer it succinctly.
Am I back yet?
Dances
Comment by Dianna G
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Comment by Nakamura
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Tropix: Nobody thinks that texting is an advancement in grammar for today's teens. It is unfortunate that so many people now use the letter "u" or "r" instead of actually typing out "you" or "are". But I don't think it will return. Once writing is gone, it won't come back. But that's just what I think. Maybe writing will never leave as long as the language survives?
danceswithwords: interesting analogy. Very interesting, my mind is... spinning to say the least.
Dianna: You make a VERY good point with poetry. Something like that is more personally and more emotional, typing it would be like leaving half of what you want to express out of your work. This also raises the question of art. How will that advance?
Thank you all for your comments, I appreciate them greatly. I'm glad you all enjoyed my blog, stay tuned for more soon!
-Nakamura
Comment by sumaya rahman
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Comment by Nakamura
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of course it wasn't. But neither was Roman Empire. Sometimes, things just end up disappearing over time if it is not passed onto the next generation. There was a time in Europe when the only people who could write were monks. Why? Because everyone was at constant war and had no reason to learn how to write. So after years of not writing, the people just forgot and it disappeared. Now texting is no war, but it may have similar effects. After all, it is giving people reason not to write via hand.
-Nakamura
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Comment by Sonya 1
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I also noticed that teenagers still write on their bags, shoes etc. with pens rather than type, print out and glue it to them ...
Comment by Nakamura
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Sonya - My first thing I said that society would have to overcome was portability. A pen can go in many more places than a computer, so it is easier to use for shorter works. But the iPod touch/iphone has an app called notes where people can just jot things down. computers now have stickies. who's to say that within the next 100 years, post its won't come out in an electronic form? After all, there was a time when wireless transmission was considered impossible.
Comment by Sonya 1
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Anyway, what I was going to say: I take notes on my iPhone all the time. I even write on it when I'm working on a story. It's great because it means I don't have to type what I scribbled anymore.
What I mean is this: Creative writers are not going to give up coming up with and developing story ideas with the help of pen and paper any time soon. There is something about the physical experience of writing that fuels the creative process.
Comment by Nakamura
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I've never been much of a creative writer, but I understand where you're going. In fact, I've heard that JK Rowling wrote all of her Harry Potter drafts by hand. To me that's madness, but perhaps you're onto something.
But what I'm suggesting is slightly different. I never said it would happen soon. A lot can happen to a language in 300-400 years. For someone like Rowling who grew up when typewriters were the most reliable form mechanical literature. Something like that isn't as great of an advantage to use over a pen. Who knows what kind of technology we will have in 500 years? Maybe they will find something that will be easier to use than a pen and paper. Just Maybe.
-Nakamura