One of the earliest form of recording and preserving information was through cuneiform tablets. Since then, like a book, it has gone through a number of iterations such as scrolls, palm leaves, the codex and even books. I myself consider physical books to be archaic considering that we now have the technology to save and share information. However, this shouldn’t be regarded as a bad thing, in fact we should celebrate it and hold books in high regard for not only how “rare” they are in the modern era, but also how much they have done for human society. Books not only record and preserve information and data for the sake of society, but also allow us to write down our thoughts, our feelings, our experiences, our stories. We can then choose to share all of that with others or simply keep it to ourselves; books are dependable for us and/or for others as we see fit. As much as I am aware of the fact that cuneiform tablets are incredibly durable (lasting for thousands of years), I do think technology will stand the test of time in terms of storing and disseminating information because firstly, I imagine it to be a lot harder to destroy digital information than physical objects (aside from cheating/hacking but even then, that requires vast knowledge and skill that no casual person has). Secondly, you often hear about how when something gets leaked on the Internet, it spreads like wildfire; you can’t erase or stop that information from appearing on the Internet. You can easily do that to a book, as evidenced by the years and years of book burnings. I think the format, whether it be a tablet, a stone or a scroll, impacts how a reader or a writer interact with and assign value to a test based on how efficient and effective it is at doing its job; recording and saving information. For example, the reason why we don’t use scrolls anymore and instead opted for books is because even though scrolls can record a lot of information, you are limited in terms of accessing that information (imagine opening up a very long scroll and it keeps rolling down on the floor!). You also will have a harder finding a specific information with a long scroll. Books share the best of both worlds because not only can you record a lot of information (like a scroll would), it is also somewhat durable (like a cuneiform tablet but less so), and it is easily accessible with a single flip of a page. With that being said, I do think digital technology will continue to play a big role in saving and sharing information, especially since the old forms will only continue to wear down and in time die out. But at the same time, I do hope for technology to help us (especially the future generations who probably won’t know what a book is) be grateful and never forget these archaic forms of recording and preserving information which have been immensely useful for human society.
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Hey Elvis
I like your response. I truly agree that technology will grow and our idea about how technology transforms us will change over time. The future is an unpredictable event that only time will tell. But in order to keep track of those events we must evolve our writing and use digital technology. I can remember times when I wrote down the information on a piece of paper and thought I’d be able to save it, but again, I lose the information I need. “Books not only record and preserve information and data for the sake of society but also allow us to write down our thoughts, our feelings, our experiences, our stories” Agreed, and without books, we would never know much history we know now as well. Or try to understand.
Hi,
I agree that books should be celebrated in the modern era because of their immense contribution to human civilization as instruments for communicating information and ideas. Since the digital age is challenging the existence of books as many of their traditional functions are being performed electronically, technology should be employed to help future generations appreciate books as artifacts. The digital age has led individuals to view books in terms of their contents and texts. However, books possess various attractive qualities beyond their texts, such as artistic objects and their unique properties deriving from the printing style and annotation. But like you said I do believe and hope that technology will help us be appreciate the antiquated methods of capturing and conserving information.
Hello Elvis,
I agree with some of your arguments, like how the evolution of literary circulation has only made it easier and more reliable to access what books have to offer. I feel literary circulation, reliability, and convenience will only improve, and it’s impossible to imagine a future where literary devices like scrolls and tablets come back into fashion. So, like you said, we need to appreciate the technologies and devices that we have now, compared to decades and especially centuries ago.
Elvis,
I agree with most of what you say about digital technology. I also think that the digitizion of information is important for the sake of preserving it and making it as accessible as possible.
You seem to use the word ‘technology’ to specifically reference digital formats. However, writing on tablets, stone, skin and paper are all also forms of technology. All those different mediums helped to advance human civilization.
Lastly, I disagree with your notion that physical books are archaic. I realize that the trend has certainly been toward digitizing information, but many people prefer physical books to their digital counterparts. Statistal data also supoports this sentiment.