Iz Reeding Daed?

[Ocklawaha]

On the heals of Stephendare's thoughts on the death of the printed news media, how far behind are books and magazines? Right now we are seeing a magazine revival but how long will it last? This takes a bit of a stretch, but imagine too that we are working on voice programs. My Apple has had VIA VOICE since the early 1990's. I talk, it writes, or it talks, or both. Now if this trend continues into the Star-Trek era (the real one) will reading vanish? Will it become the science of academics who go to ancient books of knowledge and try and figure out the squiggles? Isis and Osiris or King Tut, Ancient Aztec ruins and hieroglyphics? Will technology go so far that the keyboard goes away? Will screens vanish? Will we simply visualize and the image or holographic reality will appear, thanks to chips implanted? Far OUT? Well we already do this to target bad guys with modern fighter pilots. I wonder how far we'll go forward before we are scratching our "Metrojacksonville.com" opinions in primitive stick drawings in some cave in (Florida's Cave Country) Marianna, Middleburg or Gainesville?

Are WE endangered by our own success?

OCKLAWAHA

[Ocklawaha]

Having just re-re-read this myself, it dawned on me, I've had those images in front of me back in 1968-79 and never had the chip implanted... I got by with a little help from my friends!

one toke over the line again... GIMMIE another Soco!

Ocklawaha

[Hippodamus]

Ocklawaha: There is no such thing as one toke over the line...keep up the good work. 

[hank]

OKL, you are right to wonder about this - this is coming in one way or another I'm sure.  Now, considering all the advances in computer technology over the last 20 years, its amazing to me that the mouse and keyboard is the best we can do!  (OK, certain part cyborg, part rail database, part hippie individuals excepted).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9kTVZiJ3Uc

Watching the election returns on CNN over the last few weeks, its funny to me how these newscasters are all of the sudden using this extremely advanced touch-screen technology to interface with the district maps and data charts - as though they're just SOOOO damn sophisticated that it goes without saying!  Anyway, some big company is in on this and is probably getting ready to launch a new product or software that they needed to put in front of America first to not completely dumbfound them.  "What no mouse!  But how do you right-mouse-click!?"  CNN has no software development wing as far as I know.

I will say this for reading, don't you think that the very existence of the internet and its predominately text-based content is at least helping to re-familiarize youths with the written word?  I hope that it is.  Yeah, they are already creating their own weird text-messaging language but at least its reading... sort of.

I, for one, am ready for Minority Report.

[second_pancake]

OKL, you are right to wonder about this - this is coming in one way or another I'm sure.  Now, considering all the advances in computer technology over the last 20 years, its amazing to me that the mouse and keyboard is the best we can do!  (OK, certain part cyborg, part rail database, part hippie individuals excepted).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9kTVZiJ3Uc

Watching the election returns on CNN over the last few weeks, its funny to me how these newscasters are all of the sudden using this extremely advanced touch-screen technology to interface with the district maps and data charts - as though they're just SOOOO damn sophisticated that it goes without saying!  Anyway, some big company is in on this and is probably getting ready to launch a new product or software that they needed to put in front of America first to not completely dumbfound them.  "What no mouse!  But how do you right-mouse-click!?"  CNN has no software development wing as far as I know.

I will say this for reading, don't you think that the very existence of the internet and its predominately text-based content is at least helping to re-familiarize youths with the written word?  I hope that it is.  Yeah, they are already creating their own weird text-messaging language but at least its reading... sort of.

I, for one, am ready for Minority Report.

ROFLMMFAOOOO!  Ok, I thought the exact same thing when I saw Ann Curry touching the freakin TV screen.  Thought it even more humorous that she couldn't locate Illinois.  I mean, Heellllooo, that's where Oprah is and she's freakin God

Reading is going by the wayside.  When you have 8 year olds that don't know how to read the word, 'said' and can still get passing grades in reading/spelling/grammar, there's definitely a problem.  And while the text messaging thing I suppose is a form of reading, isn't it more a complete bastardization of TRUE reading and literacy?  Aren't they just choosing not to learn, but instead making up words and a whole new language because they're too damned lazy to figure it all out?  Main-stream music artists have perpetuated this problem by purposefully (maybe not?) mis-spelling words in an effort to appear to move against the grain   Gee, it's so freakin cool to say, 'shawty' instead of shorty, and to call it a 'drank' (which is in true form, past-tense of the verb drink, as in, to drink something, btw) instead of a drink, using the noun to describe something in which you are going to consume.  It's so cool being 'stoopid'. 

[second_pancake]

Oh, I also want to add that many schools in Duval and St. John's county do not teach Phonics, but instead, teach the children to 'read' by memorizing words.  No sounding out vowels and consanants, but learning through visualization.  Un-freakin-believeable.

[hank]

Yes, it is a sad state when kids don't even know when to stop using slang (if you can even call this slang).  For example, let's say... when you submit a report or paper for school!  I couldn't believe that one when I heard about it.  The text messaging thing is definitely a bad development, but what about the internet?

That false word creation stuff drives me nuts too!  I can't even stand it when people change letters like "Kool" or "skillz"... does that somehow make you awesome?  The entertainment factor is totally out of our hands but at least you'd expect to count on the schools to mitigate the damage done at home and on TV. 

My suspicion is that the business world will continue to function on proper English as always and will thereby always maintain that slang is an aberrant form.  Unfortunately, this generation will have a lot of catching up to do when they realize that you can't tell your boss something is "whack yo."

[second_pancake]

My suspicion is that the business world will continue to function on proper English as always and will thereby always maintain that slang is an aberrant form.

Big negatory on that one, dude.  I've been working in white-collar, professional corporate offices for many years and watched it go from button-your-shirt-wear-your-tie-speak-correctly-and-with-respect, to who-gives-a-crap-it's-only-a-job-and-if-they-don't-like-my-man-boobs-and-the-way-i-talk-they-can-kiss-my-butt.  Trust me, things aren't the way they used to be.  When you sit in a board room and hear the CEO of the company use the 'word', supposa-BLY, you go right back to your desk and hop onto Monster.com. And when you watch a nationally televised report of election results and hear a well-respected correspondent say, "...they have less people vote" instead of the correct, FEWER people, it's only a matter of time before dictionaries are reduced to beer coasters.

[hank]

When this stuff hits the boardroom... now that's scary!  I should expect less when our president is so ill-spoken himself.

Man, do I sound like my mom!