Response: “Why technology matters to writing: A cyberwriter’s tale”

In “Why technology matters to writing: A cyberwriter’s tale” Jim Porter reflects on his journey from “pencils-to-pixels” in the form of a personal narrative; an “odyssey” from writing longhand to writing on a typewriter and then the computer. He discusses its effect on his style as it relates to writing, composition, education, and pedagogy.

Although I grew up in the 90s, around technology, computers, and the internet, I could relate to Porter’s initial reflection about learning to write in the second grade in the 60s: “We did a lot of writing—not to express ideas but to form beautiful letter” (376). I recall my father having me write my homework assignments on separate piece of paper before transferring the correct assignment into the workbook or my class notebook. He was vigilant about my penmanship, but to no avail. As I became older, my penmanship became worst. (It may have been my way of rebelling because I certainly could not protest or whine about the process.) This practice of writing it on scrap paper is probably because he was from that generation concerned as much with “beauty” as with substance. Still, this process has impacted my writing, in terms of “official documents.” I sometimes find myself writing responses to applications on scrap paper and then transferring them to the document once I was certain about what was being asked.

Another aspect of his narrative that was interesting was his recollection of the investment needed to purchase a personal computer. I found it comical that someone who did this was either “serious” about the purchase or “foolhardy.” I still think a computer is an investment, although not as costly. I also liked his keen identification of his first “social network,” via the Purdue network, established after “one-by-one, faculty and then eventually graduate students purchased computers and gradually dropped out of the learning community that had been established after hours in the public lab” (382). A new virtual community had emerged because of this social shift from using publish labs to having access to this technology at home. 

This entire process from writing longhand to using the typewriter and, now, the computer has impacted (and is still impacting) a generation of “traditional” writers as well as future writers. Although this doesn't exactly relate to "why technology matters to writing," I began to consider the affect this change has had on our brain. From this article and my own writing journey, I am inclined to believe that because of this change our brains function differently as processes information differently. I goggled some articles about the affects on brain function and computer use and found some interesting things. One article cited an interesting study. “When 24 adults with and without computer experience had their brain activity measured while they searched the Internet for information, the experienced users’ brains were twice as lively as the others’.” I am not sure if this is propaganda but I do always feel more drained after being on the computer as opposed o reading. This could be due to the increased brain activity described in the article. Check out some of the articles below and make your own conclusion to the affects of the computer on the brain.

“Don’t Let Computer Use Harm your Brain”

http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/article.html?article_id=48302

“Internet 'speeds up decision making and brain function’”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3262597/Internet-speeds-up-decision-making-and-brain-function.html