Is Technology killing handwriting?

[airmech]

From CNN another interesting read concerning the decline in handwriting!
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/26/tech/web/impact-technology-handwriting/index.html?hpt=hp_c4

Tom

 

[Cartier]

Very interesting. The decline of handwriting has been very evident. I, too, was a victim of this. I am working to rectify that by writing more.

It is a shame that schools are no longer teaching cursive. The Declaration of Independence will appear as some sort of archaic hieroglyphics.

How can we expect future generations to uphold the fundamental principles of the nation if they can't even read what has been written?

 

[Mr5x5]

Technology isn't all it is cracked up to be in my opinion (other than allowing for the existence of Badger & Blade ) and I am glad i grew up when I did though 20 years sooner may have been even better.

 

[Beerhunter]

Yes I think it is. I just wished I paid more attention to this subject in school. I am quite geeky enough to actually to want to learn to improve my grammar and
punctuation and actually use my brains to write something useful for mankind than just texting "what do ya wanna do tonight" yes today's tech is a wonderful tool it's a shame that we sacrifice for that convenience.
I wouldn't even mind having some 20 something tell me I am old fashioned for being so uncool as wanting to write with a FP and silly for using a book than read it on kindle.

 

[RondeB]

Technology has almost killed handwriting. Cursive writing isn't even being taught anymore.

 

[rider4life]

I don't think technology is killing cursive, instead I feel that the true culprit is a lack of focus and a "fast-food" mentality that most people now have. Cursive wasn't around for years because it was "pretty", it was employed because it sped up writing. Our society has shifted into one of instants, including communication. With that shift, the need for faster writing was more prevalent hence typing with a keyboard on a computer. For the last few years we've seen a shift from typing in full sentences through emails and chat to typing in pseudo-code for tweets and text messaging. The tools we use for these things weren't created to kill the previous medium employed, they were created to deal with the societal shift. If society didn't want to move that way then none of these technologies would have caught on.

Cheers,

M.

 

[Heron]

I'm just happy that people are writing entire words again (except for tweets, like Matt said) now that smart phones are becoming more common. I h8 txt spk.

 

[badgerstate]

What gets me is the way everybody just dumped the MOS 6502 processor for the Motorola 68000 or the 8086 /8088. it did the job just fine, but no, everybody wanted MORE speed, MORE memory, multi-tasking. Same with good old RS 232. Don't get me started on SCSI... God I hate change.

 

[cb91710]

In other news:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11147506/.../t/stop-telegram-era-over-western-union-says/

But seriously... the abandonment of primitive technologies carries with it the danger of having become totally reliant on modern technologies.
As mentioned above, the founding documents of this and other nations were penned in cursive. If nobody can read the script, then people are forced to trust that what they are told the words say is accurate.
"Newsspeak".... "Ignorance is strength"

But, while less ominous, but more alarming....

Remember the old fire alarm boxes that used to hang on telephone poles?
Those were not phones. They were very simple telegraph devices.
Pull the lever and a clockspring operated a cam that broke the circuit in a code matching the box.
Inside the box was a telegraph key.
After the first engine company arrived, if they needed more manpower, they could open the box and signal dispatch that one or more additional companies were needed.

These boxes operated separately from the local utility company power feed or telephone system.

Modern day, cellular service is generally the first restored after a natural disaster, but it is still a complex technology with many failure points.
The old fire boxes were as reliable as the men maintaining them, and some cities (such as NYC) have prohibited their removal.

 

[cursethis]

I can type faster than I can write, even with cursive.

That said... I can no longer type for really long periods of time anymore. I have tendinitis in my hands and get trigger finger if I'm pounding away on the keyboard too much. If I even try to use a ballpoint pen now my fingers will cramp up in a few minutes. The only pens that I can write comfortably with for any extended period of time are fountain pens. So, I've kind of forced myself to write more so that I don't trigger hand cramps from typing too much.

I'm willing to bet that there is going to be a huge increase in tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome in the following decades due to computers, tablets, and cell phones. I've been using a computer for as long as I can remember. My parents would load up "learning" computer games for me to play with back when I was like 3 or 4. Fast forward to age 28 and my fingers are an absolute mess. I'm actually surprised that more people my age aren't having the same degree of problems yet.

 

[rajagra]

My parents would load up "learning" computer games for me to play with back when I was like 3 or 4. Fast forward to age 28 and my fingers are an absolute mess. I'm actually surprised that more people my age aren't having the same degree of problems yet.

If we are expected to give up the pen, is it too much to ask that they fix the goddamned awful standard keyboard? I'm not just referring to QWERTY (which is merely inefficient), but the incredibly stupid way that "correct" typing forces us to bend our left hand outwards in a painful and damaging way.
Alternatives exist, but while the existing standard reigns supreme, we will keep seeing problems.



I suspect that keyboards in general will become redundant before they fix this.

 

[cursethis]

If we are expected to give up the pen, is it too much to ask that they fix the goddamned awful standard keyboard? I'm not just referring to QWERTY (which is merely inefficient), but the incredibly stupid way that "correct" typing forces us to bend our left hand outwards in a painful and damaging way.
Alternatives exist, but while the existing standard reigns supreme, we will keep seeing problems.

View attachment 354227

I suspect that keyboards in general will become redundant before they fix this.

It would take me forever to relearn how to type on a new layout. I'm one of those people who never even looks at a keyboard.

 

[Mr5x5]

If we are expected to give up the pen, is it too much to ask that they fix the goddamned awful standard keyboard? I'm not just referring to QWERTY (which is merely inefficient), but the incredibly stupid way that "correct" typing forces us to bend our left hand outwards in a painful and damaging way.
Alternatives exist, but while the existing standard reigns supreme, we will keep seeing problems.

View attachment 354227

I suspect that keyboards in general will become redundant before they fix this.

The QWERTY design was efficient in the days of typewriters. I dealt with carpal tunnel for many years until I got an ergonomic keyboard.

 

[Bob L.]

The QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow down the typist because the original typewriter mechanics were to cumbersome to keep up with a normal human being using a keyboard designed around symbol usage frequencies.

Switching to a Dvorak keyboard is not that bad. It was tougher switching to a keyboard that moved the buttons to ergonomically meet human hands, wrists, forearms, elbows, and shoulders.

Here's the Dvorak layout...


Here's the Dvorak in an ergonomic layout.

 

[nemo]

Or perhaps technology could help ... Pretty far-fetched stuff here:

Digital Pen Aims to Help Clean Up Handwriting and Spelling Errors

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/le...handwriting-spelling-errors/story?id=19648003

 

[Bob L.]

We have decided to get kids writing with paper, pencil / pen, note cards, and their engaged heads.

It takes maturity and practice to write and organize with a keyboard. Here's why...

• Word processing software makes it easy to have terrible work look great. From a kid's perspective, good looking work doesn't need to be redone.
• Cut and paste makes it easy to plagiarize. (As a parent said last year, "Why did they put cut and paste into Word if they didn't want kids to use it?".
• Kids, I am including high school kids, often think best with physical objects. Note cards with a single concept on them can easily be arranged and re-arranged as a report is researched and organized. This can be done with a word processor but the words are floating in front of their eyes on a screen. They cannot be touched. How many times have you asked your kids to stop putting fingerprints on the screens they look at.
• Editing, self and peer, is far easier when the physical look of the page does not look finished.

This does not mean these kids are not using PCs, the internet, online sources, etc... It does mean they are doing the information capture, the: research, outlines, and early drafts with pencils, pens, notecards, paper, a dictionary and a thesaurus. The kids must include online and physical (books and/or magazines) sources. The final product is typed, formally formatted, presented in a folder, etc... (We hope some of the kids will choose to do the entire process the old fashioned" way.

MHO, I am willing and ready to take the slings and arrows of outrage from my young charges... As they say, usually with a big smile, I am the best torturer in the school.

 

[EloquentRune]

I work in banking, and when the young people that come in and fill out paperwork hand it to me, I die a little on the inside. Bless my parents for having instilled in me the virtues of handwriting that is legible. I don't even want to think about the grammar of today's youth. (I just turned 26 and I feel very old when I hear an 18 year-old speak.) I need to make a sign that reads, "There is no such thing as a Checkings account"

 

[Cartier]

I work in banking, and when the young people that come in and fill out paperwork hand it to me, I die a little on the inside. Bless my parents for having instilled in me the virtues of handwriting that is legible. I don't even want to think about the grammar of today's youth. (I just turned 26 and I feel very old when I hear an 18 year-old speak.) I need to make a sign that reads, "There is no such thing as a Checkings account"

My wife works at a bank as well and it isn't just the death of cursive, it's the death of being able to write at all.

She says so often people come in and need to her to fill out the form or check because they don't know how to read/write.

Sometimes those who do know how to put letters down don't know how to spell at all.

Items such as below are not uncommon at all.

 

[ctr]

Technology is indeed killing off writing. The next generation of software is already here, voice recognition.

Last year I realized with a bit of shock I too had lost the ability to write cursive. I could not remember how to form many of the letters. I put a concentrated effort into restoring this skill. It took me about a week, but it came back to me.

 

[jcborr00]

Technology has almost killed handwriting. Cursive writing isn't even being taught anymore.

It's true. I am 30 and I write in cursive all the time. So does my 29 year old sister and my parents. My 18 year old sister doesn't have a clue and says it wasn't taught at school. Times are changing.