Nstase Adelina Nstase Adelina Professor Monica Matei-Chesnoiu Ovidius University Constanta Text Typology And Writing 25 January

2013

Tech(writing) vs. Hand(writing)

At the start of the third millennium is quite normal to go back in time to the beginnings of human civilizations. This is a good start also to put some logical questions: Why do people write? How old is this action that is so used today? How people communicate by writing? Just by thinking about all types of writing is very easy to conclude that is a true Babel Tower of the world that is composed by all types of handwriting. 1 Writing is a modality to communicate that has resisted through time since the Sumerian needle form writing2. Handwriting was performed the first time on stones, then on wall, papyrus made from bamboo and after the Chinese invented the paper, writing was settled on paper scrolls. Nowadays to save the forests a type of paper was invented, and that is the paper made of rice. The first tech-writing machine, the print press, appeared in Europe around 1440 and it was invented by the German printer and publisher Johannes Gutenberg3 and it pressed permanent ink on paper. Of course this was just a

1- http://www.scribd.com/doc/31224092/Istoria-Scrisului 2- http://www.scribd.com/doc/38181604/Manual-Istorie-Clasa-a-IXa 3- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Gutenberg

Nstase Adelina little step ahead to the evolution of the writing machines. The first type machine was invented in 1808 by an Italian, Pellegrino Turri. After this, many companies like Royal Typewriter Company4 started the production with this ancestor of the modern computer. In 2013 we have a large range of products like laptops, smartphones that behave like a mini computer and the last inventions is the ipad. About handwriting is also known that is a conditional reflex that people learn in

their first year of school that is between ages of 6 and 7. Conditional reflexes are reflexes that come from the neural cortex and if this reflex is not repeated or somebody refuses to write by hand and choose to write with the help of the writing machines it is most likely that he or she will forget to write by hand5. Unfortunately, within this evolution and this explosion of social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, MySpace and even Youtube most youngsters at different ages especially from middle school and high-school use a lot of abbreviations when they are on this type of sites and they end to use them also in their notebooks or even worse they prefer to take notes on their high-tech gadgets. In an American school from the state Indiana the headmaster along with the teachers decided that the students could give up handwriting and take typing courses instead6. But handwriting is a better option if there would be an indeterminate power failure caused by a storm or a blizzard, students could not make their homework properly because they wouldnt know how to write by hand. Or if it is a hazard, anyone who tries to send a message through computer or any type of writing machines, will not be able because of the lack of electricity. On the other hand, only a manual type writing machine could do the job of rapid writing, unfortunately this kind of technology is not used anymore. Also for a school assignment writing on a laptop or a computer saves the 4- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter 5- Biologie Manual cls a 11-a Editura Gimnasium 2006 Stelic Ene,Elena Emilia Iancu,Gabriela Brebenel, Ofelia Tnase, pg34 6- http://www.realitatea.net/americanii-renunta-la-scrisul-de-mana-in-favoarea-rii_857424.htmltastarii_857424.html

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student who has a bad handwriting to avoid losing points at his or her final grade. Despite of this technical advantage, computers could behave like tricksters by having a crash or even worse if for an assignment the internet is needed, the internet also could have problems, making it an unreliable friend. Or after the hard work for an assignment it is quite annoying to find out that the printer which used to print the homework is not working anymore. Our conditional reflex learned in childhood is not a boring activity, and it served for many activities through history. In war, messages were transported as little notes written by hand, by telegraphs or radio. In World War II the Germans were using even pigeons to send messages from a point to another like in the Dark Ages. In the present time informal handwriting is used in letters and notes which wouldnt be the same if the handwriting would be gone. An example could be a note from a mother to her son that is cute and personal and it is glued on the fridge. Or love letters for example. It is quite hard to imagine that a letter written with a font type at different size could represent a romantic action. By handwriting emotions show up more quickly, because handwriting is a modality to make a psychological portrait of a person, because the movements made by fingers and wrist are like body language and they say a lot about a human subject who wants to find out what his or her handwriting is revealing about the human subject7. Handwriting is also a good way to keep in touch with a friend or relatives who live abroad. This kind of letters are cute and personal and is quite a good exercise for somebody who is far from homeland and has a possibility to forget his or her native language. But it is clear enough that every type of handwriting has its advantages and disadvantages too. Traditional letters are sent by traditional mail and it can be very slow 7- http://www.scribd.com/doc/975985/grafologia-si-personalitatea-umana

Nstase Adelina and the letter could be received with delays which range from a couple of days to even several months or worse, several years. In the 21th century traditional mail is replaced by the electronic mail, the e-mail8 which is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the same

time, a trait that is necessary today in instant messaging. Today's email systems are based on a store-and-forward model. Email servers accept, forward, deliver and store messages. Neither the users nor their computers are required to be online simultaneously; they need to connect only briefly, typically to an email server, for as long as it takes to send or receive messages. But like all simple ways to ease communication there must be some disadvantage to it. Like the definition said, in this type of communication both participants must be able to get online and in some places in this wide world internet is not a priority, especially in third world countries. Even in first world countries the internet connection is not perfect. On 12 December 1980 at an auction the American entrepreneur Armand Hammer bought Leicester Codex9 a handwritten manuscript written by Leonardo da Vinci in 1508 AD. The manuscript has 18 pages and its prince then was 5.126.000 $. After Hammers death Bill Gates bought it with 30.000.000 $. At the opposite pole a manuscript of J.K.Rowling Beedle of the Bard was sold with 4.000.000 $10. The manuscript was bought by Amazon.com and all the money were donated at Childrens Voice. To conclude, at this point a handwritten work is more kind

8- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email 9- http://terraencyclopedia.org/2012/12/12/cel-mai-scump-manuscris-din-lume/ 10- http://www.frontnews.ro/arts-si-lifestyle/arta/un-manuscris-al-lui-j-k-rowling-a-fost-vandut-cu-4-milioane-dedolari-5752

Nstase Adelina of work could be preserved as well as a computer-made work and in time its value increases much more than its modern enemy.

Handwriting helps the writer to be more careful in his action of writing. It protects the vision because the computer screen can affect the eyes. It is also known that by handwriting, learning becomes an easy task. When this type of learning is used, the reticular system of activity is activated creating a filter between what is written and the text that is re-written. Writing by hand improves faster if somebody does not give up writing. Improving writing also increases the speed of writing. In a study, in 2009, students who wrote by hand just using an ordinary pencil finished faster their assignment than their colleagues who used a computer to make their homework. When a person is old, handwriting is just like an aerobic session and even doctors recommend this. Handwriting also improves creativity and assures a healthy memory for a long period. A study in 2008 reveals that people are more receptive at different symbols as musical notes, Chinese symbols, mathematical symbols if there are written by hand rather than showed on a computer screen.11 Unfortunately handwriting is losing everyday this constant battle with the modern day technology that brings everyday something new, and it is also sad that a pen or a colored pencil is not as temping for a child or a teenager as a new computer, a notebook or an electronic writing pad. Teachers from all the schools in the world should encourage their pupils and students to write more by hand than with machines if they want to keep the tradition of writing. Because of the climax of the tradition of handwriting, many countries around the world have a specific handwriting that makes them special. For learning Russian the Cyrillic alphabet is needed. Or for 11- http://www.yuppy.ro/articol/LifeStyle/5667/cele-patru-mari-avantaje-ale-scrisului-de-mana-inteligenta.html

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learning Asian languages the special symbols are needed, and only written by hand those signs could be learned. Mathematics and other sciences which involve calculations could not be learned just by staring at a screen. In this type of science, only by involving the subject in the calculations just with a pencil and a blank paper represents a first step of improvement in Mathematics. In a brief and final conclusion even a fan of handwriting is overcrowded with all kinds of technologies and should adapt to this new writing environment. If a person still loves this primitive style, just with a pen and a blank page, he or she must protect this tradition of writing without rejecting today and tomorrows technology.

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Works Cited
Books:
Biologie manual cls a 11-a editura gimnasium 2006 Stelic Ene,Elena Emilia Iancu,Gabriela Brebenel Ofelia Tnase, pg34

Websites:
History of writing http://www.scribd.com/doc/31224092/Istoria-Scrisului Sumerian writing http://www.scribd.com/doc/38181604/Manual-Istorie-Clasa-a-IXa Johannes Gutenberg http://www.mainz.de/gutenberg/zeitgutb.htm Typewriter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter American decision http://www.realitatea.net/americanii-renunta-la-scrisul-de-mana-in-favoareatastarii_857424.html Graphology and human personality http://www.scribd.com/doc/975985/grafologia-si-personalitatea-umana E-mail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email

Nstase Adelina Most expensive handwritten manuscript http://terraencyclopedia.org/2012/12/12/cel-mai-scump-manuscris-din-lume J.K.Rowling manuscript http://www.frontnews.ro/arts-si-lifestyle/arta/un-manuscris-al-lui-j-k-rowling-afost-vandut-cu-4-milioane-de-dolari-5752 10 The advantages of handwriting http://www.yuppy.ro/articol/LifeStyle/5667/cele-patru-mari-avantaje-alescrisului-de-mana-inteligenta.html