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“It is even possible to conceive of a future in which all paper-and-pencil literacies are replaced by digital literacies.”
We have seen the advent of this already…How many of you have a Kindle? (My hand is raised. I, in fact, LOVE my Kindle. And not only do I have a Kindle Paperwhite, I have the Kindle app on my Android phone and Android tablet. But I digress.)
What this sentence is saying goes beyond the shift from paperbacks to e-book readers. These authors suggest that in the future, humans will no longer write long-form essays and stories. They will create content digitally through photos, other graphics, music, and sound…maybe with the assistance of some words, but not necessarily in sentences. And not necessarily lines of verse, either. Possibly just a word here or there to accentuate the other media being used.
This prompted me to look up the definition of “to write”:
“to form (as characters or symbols) on a surface with an instrument (as a pen).”
This could also be applied to typing letters on a computer, and I suppose it could also cover the process of putting other types of symbols together (other than letters) to communicate a message. In this case, using digital media to communicate a message or story could be like a form of writing.
Will digital media eventually replace writing as we know it?
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| "Borneo: Memory of the Caves" |
If that is the case, what do you suppose that means for the future of writers? Do you think in the future, instead of writing this blog post, I will communicate it to you in a series of photos and audio? Some blogs and websites already do this.
In the future, instead of writing a novel, will it be read aloud (like an audiobook) with a companion series of images or video (maybe like a really long movie)?
What might the future hold for writers given the changes in technology? I do not anticipate that in my lifetime I will see the demise of the novel as we currently know it…but what might it look like in a 100 years from now?
By Anne Greenawalt: writer, writing instructor, and Adult Education doctoral student
0 Comments on The Demise of Writing as We Know it (!)(?) as of 3/2/2014 7:08:00 AM
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If books printed on paper become obsolete, our world and humankind will lose one of our greatest treasures.
Back in the 1980s, we bought a video camera to capture our kids in their high school activities. My mother gently recommended that we also take snapshots of our kids. "Someday, technology will change and you won't be able to access your videos; on the other hand,all you need inorder to view snapshots is your eyes." HOW TRUE!
How many of us have boxes of old video tapes and no VCRs to play them on? How many of us have boxes full of old floppy disks that we can no longer access?
Let's not put our most important words and stories into digital format only! A hard copy will stand the test of time and will triumph over ever-changing technology.
Linda
I agree with Linda. Even though technology is advancing by the minute, the simpler ways of life will always survive if we allow it to.
I recently uploaded a new book to Kindle and Nook. Happy? Yes. Satisfied? No. The problem is, in my opinion, upcoming authors have it harder to have their books in print without paying a hefty sum of money out of pocket. It's wonderful to see your book in print even if it is an eBook and watch those download numbers rise. You (the upcoming author) wonders how many book sales you'd actually have if agents/publishers would just give us a chance.
The other problem is that sending off queries is a nerve racking process all in itself and not to hear ANYTHING back is heartbreaking. No...it almost breaks a person's spirit. Digital is an instant feeling of gratification but to see one's work in print on paper is a lifetime achievement.
I pray that we don't allow printed books to vanish as did the VCR. I only wished the process of having our work published (without surrendering to vanity publishers/POD publishers) was a more fair process. You know. Not all of us are celebrities who have others write our thoughts out and within six months see ourselves at the top of The Best Seller's List. We, upcoming publishers, really do labor over our work and it is our baby. When someone rejects our babies, we tend to get a little upset.