Reading Response No. 12

Getting Ready to Read:
While my parents were in school, the typewriter was the dominant wiritng tool. This tool could be compared to the computer, which is the dominant wiritng tool now. With typewriters, it is much harder to fix a mistake than it is on a computer. When I used to use our old typewriter just for fun, I remember thinking about what I was going to put down much more than I do with a computer; since errors were almost unerasable.

Summary:
In his article "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literary Technologies," Baron discusses different technologies that can be related to writing and how writing is a sort of technology as well. He argues that all wiritng technologies take time to be accepted by society, noting that even lead pencils were once a new technology, and therefore opposed at one point. However, Baron also states that each new technology, wether it is pencil, typewriter, or computer, has infiltrated the writing world and have been embraced by all wiriters.

Synthesis:
This article could be related back to the literary sponsors article by Brant that we recently examined. It says that we become literate by way of sponsors. In this case, when new technology comes about, we have to become literate with that as well, and sponsors can play a key role in that as well.

Questions for Discussion and Journaling:
4. One technology that may not be considered technology anymore is the typewriter. When one thinks of technology they probably think of something that runs off of a rechargable battery or electricity. Since typerwriters use niether of these and have been replaced with computers, they don't seem as high-tech as they did when they first came out.

Personal Response:
I thought that the way Baron compares technologies that could be related to writing and writing itself wsas interesting. Also, I liked how much he related technology with the way things are written; how changing technology can change the way we write.