Baron

Most of the articles we have read throughout this semester haven't quite held my attention. They've been just sort of, "meh." For some reason, perhaps due to Baron's explanation of the pencil as an engineering marvel, "From Pencil to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies" has been my favorite article so far. All in all, Baron's paper is a fantastic example of a well made research paper. That being said, I'm not entirely sure it's the best choice to read for our upcoming research assignment. Reason being: Baron's paper was a culmination of information that was already available, whereas, the assignment asks students to gather their own information without looking for it online. The assignment is meant to be a case study or survey, similar to that of "Fanfiction, Poetry, Blogs, and Journals: A Case Study of the Connection between Extracurricular and Academic Writings."

The point of Baron's paper is to explain to readers that the technologies we take for granted today were once something to be in awe of. For example, he spends a couple pages explaining how much work goes into the making of a pencil. In the past, the pencil making process was a mystery to the masses. Finding an inexpensive, quality pencil was to do. Some were even imports of European design because of the high quality lead they had available to them. Today, if you borrow a pencil, it will probably feel like every other pencil and write just as dark with the same amount of pressure. We wouldn't thunk anything of it.

Baron goes on to explain the technologies of the past and how they were perceived by the people. His finding date back to ancient times when the idea of writing was just that, an idea. Plato felt writing would ruin our memories, as we wouldn't need them anymore. Others believed to be the product of evil. Far gone are the days of chiseling on stone tablets. There were negative thoughts about the pencil, the telegraph, telephone, and even today, there are some who believe computers shouldn't be used for word processing. Computers aside, society today has affordable access to pens, pencils, and paper. All three of which would be almost impossible for someone to make at home. Yet we still use them everyday without batting an eyelash.

Baron's article proves that writing technologies have changed, are changing, and will change in ways we can't yet imagine.