What about Eve? Blog #6

I struggle with Lanham and some of his theories. However, if I say communication is defined by words and means of expression, then what about the meaning of intent? Do we discard the purpose? The clarity, brevity, and sincerity of communication are not so easily understood (sometimes by design). Does the electronic book emulate the same context as the hardbound style? I do take a personal offense to calling books, “Stuff.” Nevertheless, Lanham has a point in that what the messages (stuff) convey does not meet well with the digital form of expression (138). If I am to understand Lanham, the “stuff” is affecting the conveyance of the message. Lanham suggests since the invention of printing, the presumption of “stuff-based” humane communication is reinforced. I feel since the beginning of time, society has created the “stuff” to enhance the message. How can we strip away any form of “stuff?” “Go ask Eve!” As for brevity (the politicians could practice this), Lanham discusses how this C-B-S model is not useful in conveying communication (137). I think the author of War & Peace might agree. There is no “sanitized” way to convey or transmit a meaning. Contextually, it would be down right scary to “put it out there” for all to read. That might affect the sincerity and the context! Back to calling things, “stuff.” Lanham suggests that the “stuffy’ old book will share the stage with the electronic version. He states, “The new spaces for words will be competitive and self-conscious” according to Lanham (145). I agree that the new medium is in fact competitive and is inclusive. Like all shifts with technology and the “orality” factor, there is no way to predict the outcomes. The model of communication is outmoded; as with some of the fears, that technology is going to rot our children’s minds. As with Eve, everything is interdependent. Words and language will always question the medium. 

Cited Works

Lanham. "DTC|English 355: Schedule." Paul Muhlhauser, Ph,Doctor. 2010. Web. 19 Oct.

2010. .

Welcome To Golekia

Golekia-Embedded Everywhere!

By 2050 (prediction), the English language will make its first and last appearance in print. Technology will transform language, lifting it off the page and going viral with the world as its medium. Text, mediums, contextual framework, and any sense of form will change. No longer encased, trapped, or contained, the new “Golekia” language will be a “presence.” Technology will rapidly “jump” hypertext off the page, no longer seeking the archival safety of a hard drive, embedding, or containment. Golekia will liberate the world with free-flowing information. Interfaces will no longer be needed, as our world will become the contextual framework for words.

  The theory of printed language dying is not a far-fetched concept. Looking back to our history, man has pushed language across every medium thanks to the technology within technology. Now, moving even faster, technology is preparing the print-bound world to end! Imagine the end of putting the pen to the paper, and pushing. Keyboards and text messaging will be rendered useless. This is evident as people are surfing, reading, and integrating information at such speeds, their brains show physiological changes. Digitalism no longer exists in a codified environment. Kalmbach (Professional Writing as Technologically Situated Action) suggests that as text flows off the page to the screen, designers need to anticipate the shape text will dictate (8). Will form or the medium change? He points out that the interaction between text and humans is not solidified in the future (8).  Written language is forced to adapt, suggesting there is ever-present indicators that the semiotic relationship man has with text is evolving faster. Just as Gutenberg’s invention of the press catapulted the rapid evolution of the written word, the medium itself was never meant to linger. In the readings of Burbules (Rhetorics of the Web: Hyper reading and critical literacy), the idea that printed text is limited and can only possess so many words suggests limitations (103). Technology will not adhere to boundaries and neither will future generations.   

Works Cited

Burbules, Nicholas. "Page to Screen: Taking Literary into the Electronic Era." Ed. Llana Snyder. Oct. 2001. Web. 28 Sept. 2010. .

Kalmbach, James. "Publishing Before Computers." 2002. Web. 28 Sept. 2010

http://www.paulmuhlhauser.org/355/Readings/Kalmbach.pdf.