Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution

Brian Hayes:

The world's first technology for writing was invented not by poets or prophets or the chroniclers of kings; it came from bean counters. The Sumerian cuneiform script--made up of symbols incised on soft clay--grew out of a scheme for keeping accounts and inventories. Curiously, this story of borrowing arithmetical apparatus for literary purposes has been repeated in recent times. The prevailing modern instrument for writing--the computer--also began as (and remains) a device for number crunching.

Dennis Baron's extended essay A Better Pencil looks back over the entire history of writing technologies (clay tablets, pens, pencils, typewriters), but the focus is on the recent transition to digital devices. His title implies a question. Is the computer really a better pencil? Will it lead to better writing? There is a faction that thinks otherwise:

Posted by Jim Zellmer at December 27, 2010 4:34 AM
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