Bright Ideas

Welcome to Bright Ideas! I look forward to exchanging information with you. Please leave relevant comments.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Technological Advancements in Writing


Prior to the invention of the alphabet, writing systems posed as complex means of communication in which decoders, or readers, found it difficult to interpret information and meanings (221). Conventions defining the formation symbols and transmission of ideas through technological resources, namely publishing technologies, represent a social force impacting the way texts are understood and used by audiences. It is the responsibility of professional writers to remain aware of such conventions, ethical accountability, and socially situated construct and deliver messages by means that can be accepted by their readers.

Texts must first be recognized as not only a writing system, but as a technological practice to connect with readers and engage their comprehension of what is being presented. During the 9th century in cultures dominated by prealphabetic scripts, reading was restricted to specialists, lacked a means of achieving social action, and was difficult to interpret due to an abstract writing system. Symbols and words served as recognizable discourse in consideration of those looking to acquire and preserve power (222). Then a shift in communication emerged as technologies further developed, thus leading writers to switch from being gatekeepers to publishers of texts.

Innovations allowed writers to communicate ideas to “others.” However, texts had to be read orally. The lack of lowercase letters, spaces between words, and punctuation to separate statements, posed as time consuming and physically exhausting to readers. Writers reevaluated how texts were transmitted to audiences and instituted those attributes to permit silent reading, dramatically increasing the amount of text that could be processed (224). Yet, the traditional method for producing text by hand was unable to satisfy the demand for literature. Intellectuals began questioning and providing technological answers in response to those demands. In addition, readers also required a more advanced approach for creating their own documents, crossing the boundaries from decoder to encoder.

Developments including letterpress printing, the typewriter, lithography, and xerography brought writing from merely representing a tool for communicating to a social practice that was technologically founded. Letterpress printing used hand-drawn letterforms models that had to be built, forced against paper, and fed into then pulled off a pressed. Although laborious, this innovation established book-making as commercial rather than an artistic activity (225).  The typewriter acted as an alternative to handwriting for the everyday publisher; it was an artificial machine for impressing or transcribing letters on paper or parchment (226). Lithography took publishing to a level of using chemicals to produce text, and xerography made offset publishing through electrostatic printing (227-232). Each technology was created to address the increased public and commercial demands of texts, and counteracted the limited functionality of one another.

Eventually, social practice invigorated publishing and printing trends and lead to computerized advancements in the field. Structure then became a new market within itself. Screen-based and innovative techniques regarding printed texts changed the way information was communicated and interpreted. Whether embedded or interactive, writers and readers alike had more control over the different situation for which texts was used (234-241). Depended upon the situation, texts can be access for extended reading, such as with printed materials, or for quickly accessible instruction, such as with software tutorials via screen. Either way, readers of all texts must navigate to diffuse collections of information (242).

Due to advance technologies in communication, ideas are more easily available to individuals. Copyright laws were originally established to institute an ignoble desire for censorship and protect profits by prohibiting unlicensed competition (255). The new electronic environment, commonly utilized by the public, has initiated and redefined intellectual property and copyright laws. Such laws now protect the labor behind idea development rather than the idea itself. Permission must be acquired before reciting another writer’s work in most situations. However, lines that define copyright laws are often indistinct, and issues are frequently judged per case, rather than on a one-size-fits-all basis to convict infringements.

Increased public demand of texts, from writing systems to interpretation to presentation – had greatly influenced technological advancements throughout history. Developments represent new and improved construction in response to problems encountered from traditional technologies. Formerly considered a tool, social practice within print and electronic arenas initiated a transformation in writing comparable with circumstances that arise due to informational availability and usage.




No comments:

Post a Comment