Dennis Baron is right when he says that "we seldom give any thought" to the "humble wood pencil" (73). Never before had I thought so deeply about pencils! It's funny, isn't it? The in-depth procedure, the complexities of making such a simple, basic tool. Baron certainly made me appreciate the simpler things a little bit more.
I enjoyed reading this essay. It felt like Baron was constantly adding little bits of fascinating facts to spice up his writing. Like on page 77, "the word pencils means 'little tail'" or "the eraser substance was called rubber because it was used to rub out pencil marks...". This guy knows his pencils facts, and I was surprised by how interesting I found them to be!
I found Baron's overall point to be that new technologies are often "fought against or embraced" and it isn't until years later that we can reflect on how silly we were to fight against something so useful. People thought pencils were bad, that telephones were pointless, and that calculators would stop people from knowing basic arithmetic. All the hype boils down to fear of the unknown, in my opinion.
And to think, the only pencil I use is a mechanical one.
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Baron's essay showed hindsight bias toward technology after it has been accepted but also showed that once technology has been embraced and we have adapted to it, it is difficult to go back. Baron commented on how he could never go back to the age of handwritten and all of its physical demands such as crossing out and copying and pasting. Technology made it so that we no longer have to worry about such demands and can easily edit things quickly and efficiently. The pencil was a major step but now has become a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed reading Baron's essay and agree that the pencil was a huge stepping stone towards what technology has come to today. It was a very interesting read on how much Baron knew about pencils and the history and function of them. I got a sense that when he was describing telephones and its use that I could relate that to today's computer. He states that "Of course the telephone was not only a source of information. It also threatened our privacy.."(78), I relate this statement to the use of computers in todays soicety. That computers threaten our privacy and also form as something more than just communication. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this essay.
ReplyDeleteI felt Barons’ essay gave us a wonderful time line through the stages of literacy technologies. He sets the table by stating were we are now in terms of technology in literacy as of today. His thoughts of where we could be headed I feel are right on. Computers will replace books and newspapers someday, newspapers being the first to go, probably because the economic aspects and books will hold on more so because of the nostalgic value. Technology brings upon us some positive and negative aspects with in literacy. The flexibility and speed technology has brought to writing allows us to express our thought in a timely manner with less confusion. I agree that technology is not always embraced initially. Change is not always welcome with open arms. We all like to be comfortable, and change takes us out of the comfort zone, especially when we don’t know where change is going to take us. May be that’s why we use mechanical pencils instead of the old fashion wood ones. It is our safe way of embracing technology without feeling to vulnerable, by holding on to some of the past, before heading into the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Amy. We are all conservatives at heart, I guess...and we resist change.
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