Into The Electronic Millennium By Sven Birkerts

In Into the Electronic Millennium by Sven Birkerts, Birkerts claims that technology has made the engagement of media much more exposed than it was while in print, and the use of electronics has made new generations less likely to understand difficult pieces of literature. He points out that print text forces you to focus more on what it’s saying, while electronic media is easier to read without processing (Birkerts, Paragraph 1).
The use of technology has introduced a new way of speaking and communication, which will, in time, alter the way literature is displayed on electronic mediums. Because of these setbacks, literary curriculum is supposedly being made easier than it has been in the past, to accommodate new students that can’t understand more complex texts as much as students in the past have been able to

(Birkerts, Paragraph 14, 29).
Also, print is permanently written, while electronically displayed information is easily changeable.

“Changes in information storage and access are bound to impinge on our historical memory” (Birkerts, Paragraph 31). With literature moving to electronic databases, new generations will begin to think of the past as a fantasy, not being able to imagine a world that isn’t at their fingertips. New generations will begin to care less about history, as they will be able to access information on it whenever they need to.
Finally, Birkerts claims that technology has made it so anyone’s personal information can be accessed through the click of a button, making the privacy of our lives disappear. Even when we are not online, our personal information is, as there is no privacy on the internet. “...It will make almost no sense to speak of the differentiations of subjective individualism” (Birkerts, Paragraph 35).
While Birkerts is correct in assuming that technology may alter the way we view history and literature, he fails to mention the infinite resources available to students which can aid in this process, as well as the changing methods in which students

learn.
While it is true technology may be making it harder for new generations to understand classical pieces of literature in their original form, electronics give access to learning materials and resources that can help with this. Also, language itself has changed over time, and not just because of emerging technologies. Classical works have always been difficult to comprehend because the world doesn’t speak in the same ways continuously. “...Electronic communication will radically alter the ways in which we use language…” (Birkerts, Paragraph 29). While electronics may change the ways in which we communicate, it is no different than the natural adjustment of language over time. In fact, these new ways of electronic communication not only give students a comprehendible version of the same materials, but it gives access to resources that can help one understand them even further. New generations may not have to be as adept at analyzing classical literature as older generations may have been.
Technology was invented to make lives easier, and using it to gain access to information does not make newer generations less successful at comprehension, it makes them more resourceful. The use of electronics into one's everyday life may prove useful. Information, like Birkerts said, will forever be at our fingertips, yet it that principle that will assist new generations of students be more successful and understanding of the world around them.