4.1156 On Technophobia (2/36)
Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Tue, 12 Mar 91 17:06:39 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 1156. Tuesday, 12 Mar 1991.
(1) Date: Mon, 11 Mar 91 21:10:08 -0500 (14 lines)
From: Joel Goldfield <joel@lambada.acs.unc.edu>
Subject: Technophobia
(2) Date: Tue, 12 Mar 91 08:26:42 MST (22 lines)
From: Skip <DUSKNOX@IDBSU>
Subject: Re: 4.1149 Technophobia Strikes Again
(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 91 21:10:08 -0500
From: Joel Goldfield <joel@lambada.acs.unc.edu>
Subject: Technophobia
Given Willard's erudite, though brief, analysis of the defection by
English & Comparative Literature colleague Edward Mendelsohn, perhaps we
might persuade our former editor to write a rebuttal. At least his
letter would not be economically motivated as I suspect E.M.'s was in
part. Has everyone noticed the fate of _Academic Computing_?
Interesting that it came so closely on the heels of the Halio
controversy, n'est-ce pas?
Regards,
Joel D. Goldfield
IAT/U. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------28----
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 91 08:26:42 MST
From: Skip <DUSKNOX@IDBSU>
Subject: Re: 4.1149 Technophobia Strikes Again (1/58)
Don't be too hard on the guy, Willard. The PC is the first new writing
tool since the typewriter (interesting that he offers that, rather than
quill and ink well, as the alternative), and is the first new writing
tool to penetrate the literate populations so rapidly. Most of us, as
you say, don't quite know what to make of the beasties yet, so I don't
get upset when I hear diatribes like this one.
What strikes me most strongly about computers and writing is that the
revolution in continual. The addition of the spelling checker, thesaurus,
grammar checker, electronic mail, page layout, hypertext, all add new
dimensions to the process of writing. The tool changes beneath our
very fingers, making evaluation that much harder. Perhaps we should
leave the matter of Significance to a later generation; let them write
history - we'll merely make history. ;-)
Ellis 'Skip' Knox, Ph.D.
Historian, Data Center Associate
Boise State University DUSKNOX@IDBSU.IDBSU.EDU