Electronic Writing Will Not Make Books Obsolete

Electronic Writing Will Not Make Books Obsolete

Twenty years ago, the thought of instantly publishing your thoughts for the world to see with the simple push of a button, would have been a dream. Today, websites and on-line forums have made this dream possible. Through the years, technology has made advancements in many fields. Today, nowhere is that more apparent than in the field of writing. Electronic writing’s detractors fear that the increase of electronic writing will spell disaster for modern language. History does not support this claim however. Some additional complaints about electronic text are that it is not aesthetically pleasing and it is awkward to read. This is a copout for people unwilling to change with the times. Books will always have a place in writing, but doubters had better hop on the bandwagon soon, because computers and electronic writing are here to stay. In the educational arena, printed texts are becoming increasingly obsolete. The amount and variety of information available on the internet have made reading electronic text not only an option, but in some areas, a necessity. Electronic writing has changed the modern perception of who is a writer is by offering a wider range of places for authors to publish their work and opinions. Computers and the internet have become too mainstream to ignore. Electronic writing may never completely replace printed text, but its use is becoming increasingly more popular.

In Into the Electronic Millennium, Sven Birkerts lists language erosion as his number one fear of “an all-electronic future (70).” “The complexity and distinctiveness of spoken and written expression, which are deeply bound to traditions of print l...

... middle of paper ...

...tion. Electronic text is redefining our idea of what a writer is. It allows anyone with enough time and desire to post their writing on the internet. Anyone can now publish their volumes for the world to read. Books will always have their place, but technology is advancing, and electronic text is becoming a major force among modern forms of popular writing.

Works Cited

Birkets, Sven. “Into the Electronic Millennium.” Writing Materials. Eds. Evelyn

Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 62-74.

Landow, George. “Twenty Minutes into the Future, or How Are We Moving Beyond the

Book?” Writing Materials. Eds. Evelyn Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York:

Longman, 2003. 214-226.

Sosnoski, James. “Hyper-readers and their Reading Engines.” Writing Materials. Eds.

Evelyn Tribble and Anne Trubek. New York: Longman, 2003. 400-417.