Why do we expect that the technology around reading will endure when no other technology has?

I have a Chandler Price letterpress sitting in my garage that I used to print chapbooks and broadsides on, but it's rare I bump into someone who loves "real" printing.   Of course, the Chandler Price is incredibly modern next to a lithography stone.

I'm not yet able to give up on film photography, but almost.  I came so close to buying a digital Nikon.

I noticed  that the digital picture frames were flying off the shelves, so I think you'll find that they will come to replace the old-fashioned ones which will become curiosities, and so it will be with the books at the bookstore.  We'll be able to find them for a while, but increasingly they will be rarer, and at some point there won't be any new titles coming out.

One of my co-worker's elderly father has a huge 8-track tape library, and she says that he insists that it is coming back into fashion.

I have a  1967 Ford 2 Stakeside truck, and I'm looking for a 1939 Ford 9N tractor.

I think there would be something wrong with us if we didn't love old things.  But, love them though we might, there's always something new to take their place.

Michael Tate



From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Sandra (Sandy) Jensen
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 3:02 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3403] Re: oral vs reading traditions

Michael, What about reading fiction for pleasure?  The sheer volume of fiction for sale at Barnes and Noble tells me that I am not the only one who likes to curl up with a good book.  I do not want my computer to read to me.  I want to control the speed at which I take in the ideas---rereading a particularly amusing section, skimming a boring one.  Do you think visual learners like me will become extinct?  Maybe, but I think it will take multiple generations.

Sandy Jensen

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Michael Tate
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 4:25 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3401] Re: oral vs reading traditions

Steve,

I think Star Trek had it right when Captain Kirk would interact with the computer orally.  In more recent Star Treks, the book has re-appeared in a digital format, but it is only used by those who have an antiquarian interest in that technology.  We now possess the software to make the Star Trek vision a reality.

Since we are born to do oral/aural communication, I doubt we will stick with reading except for limited applications like making lists, etc.  People will go with what's easiest.  I noticed over the holidays that someone has a little gizmo that will replace a grocery list.

 When you are paying your bills, do you do the sums in your head or on paper?  If you are like most people, you track that on a calculator.  Some of us actually pay bills on line, so the computer keeps track of that, and will even give you a yearly report if you ask for it.

Many computers now come with a screen reader, but if they don't,  you can get one  very cheaply.  Software is also available that will let you interface with your computer by giving oral commands and directions.   You can dictate emails, memos, reports, term papers, etc.  that can be printed or emailed.  If you have a copy of Huckleberry Finn, you can scan it in to your computer and have the computer read it to you.

Computers also come with cameras, so you can do video-calls or meetings.

I don't agree that academic and professional information is not on the web.  Most content is now on the web.  As more higher education entities join Open Source agreements, there will be less and less that is not  on the web.

And, everything we do on a computer, we will soon be able to do on cell phones, so the argument that this technology is out of reach for low-income people isn't true.   I can ask my cell phone  to dial my brother's phone number, and it does it.

As the demand for oral/aural software grows, ways to scan and to highlight audiofiles will be refined.  We'll be able to sort key statements and phrases.    Speed listening can be developed in much the same way speed reading is.  We know from the long histories that aboriginal people are able to do remember, that neither capacity or accuracy will be a problem when speaking and listening replace reading and writing.

So, we need to prepare our students for life in speaking and listening world.  I was at Microsoft's School of the Future conference in Seattle last month, and one of the presenters said that the changes I've been talking about will happen  subliminally, and if we, by chance do sense something happen, it will seem seductive.

Michael Tate

From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Steve Kaufmann
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 12:25 PM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 3397] Re: oral vs reading traditions

It is not a matter of audio books over print books. The reality is that most of the information we need to access in academic and professional situations is not available in audio form, and we are often required to provide information in written form. Moreover, most of us can read much faster than we listen. We can scan, we can easily focus on what is important. Reading and writing are phenomenal inventions, that dwarf the invention of the computer and digital sound files, in terms of their impact on human development.

I have not heard a valid argument for saying that good literacy skills are not important.


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