After reading chapters 1, 3, and 5 of Dennis Barron's "A Better Pencil", it's becoming clear that we have a predisposition to distrust new technologies. While it didn't take reading his book to understand or internalize this, it did bring to light some interesting positions on writing technologies.
For starters, I found the history of the pencil to be extremely interesting. Who knew that Thoreau was a pencil baron? I certainly didn't. What was even more interesting was how pencil technology evolved from early graphite deposits to complicated processes involving mixing of elements to create a variety of pencil styles.
Having said that, I think the major point Barron's was trying to emphasize is that all writing tools are essentially technological inventions vying for a place in human history to help spread the written word. As technology improves, we see time after time, a group of people (luddites?) who can't seem to come to terms with the newer technology and often take on the role of critic.
While I'm certainly reasonably skeptical about all new technologies, I often take a measured "let's just see how this plays out" stance. As we've seen time and time again, just because it's new and improved doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be the next best thing (betamax anyone?).
For purposes of class discussion, I'd like to talk about how technology has affected various people in their academic careers. Among the older (yes, that's me), has technology been an asset or a detractor? Among the younger, do you remember NOT using a computer?
... I wish there were more fonts to play with...
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