Posts
Rochelle Juette
DTC 375
Dr. Farman
February 19, 2009
Word Count: 754
USA is Textual All the Way!
When we look back into history we have thousands of documents that were carved, inscribed, tattooed or written in some form, which contained useful information. This information is our history, the history of who we are today. We learned in class that history began with writing 5,000 years ago. Writing began with cave drawings on the wall. We still heavily rely on text. We use text in our culture to find our way around, to entertain, to document information, as well as a means of communication.
We use text in our culture to find our way around. Sure, we could probably find our way by communicating verbally; however, people use signs and maps to give directions as well as writing down the directions so you don’t forget. Try to give directions to Seattle without writing them down or using signs or maps. You would simply say, “Keep driving until you hit rain. Then, you’ll probably be in Seattle”. We use text on signs that are posted around our cities. We use them to warn people of upcoming or possible dangers, to welcome people, and for directions. Without these textual signs, all chaos might break loose and people could get hurt without the warning signs we are use to.
We also use test for entertainment, such as in books. McLuhan argued that with writing there is a loss of gesture, facial expression and a loss of the body. I disagree completely. I believe it depends upon the author and the reader. When writing a story or any form of writing, I use my body and sometimes even facial expression. When you scratch your head because you have writers block, I would think that is considered gestures and use of the body. If you write about that and describe what you did, the reader can then visualize an author scratching his or her head because of their writer’s block. As for the reader, they too can be involved with gesture, facial expression, and use of the body. When reading a good book, I laugh, I smile; sometimes I might even hug or throw the book (depending on the mood of the story).
We know about the things that happened in our past because most of them were documented in some way. The cave drawings tell us that 5,000 years ago human beings were roaming the earth. We know our rights because they were documented in the Declaration of Independence. Today, we know the speed limit of city roads, highways, and freeways because they are posted on signs everywhere along the roads. Text is everywhere and it always has been, thanks to the alphabet. “As written forms, the letters of the alphabet have been used for centuries in the production of written and printed documents…Fewer than a dozen instances of the invention of writing are recorded in human history” (Drucker, 47).
Text is widely known as a form of communication. We use text in letters, e-mails, text messaging (hence the name), etc. Without text, we wouldn’t have an efficient method of communication. We would have to rely solely on oral communication, which is sometimes not always accessible in situations. For example, if you need to ask a friend a question in class but your teacher was talking, you would have to yell over the teacher’s voice, which isn’t appropriate. With a text message, you are able to send your question, via text, in seconds. The same goes for e-mails at work. Many people rely on their e-mails to share information and to communicate on the job. If you only had oral communication, you would be spending most of your day trying to track people down just to tell them to go on their lunch break when a simple e-mail would have sufficed.
When questioning whether our culture is primarily oral or textual, textual came to mind. Even though we learn to speak first, we depend on writing throughout our lives. Without text, we wouldn’t be able to read directions to find our way around, our entertainment would be lessened, our communication with others would be slim and we wouldn’t be able to document anything, leaving us with only words and no documented proof. “Without writing, words as such have no visual presence, even when the objects they represent are visual. They are sounds…there is nowhere to ‘look’ for them. They have no focus and no trace” (Ong, 66). With this being said, a world without text would be untraceable and uninformative.
Works Cited
Druckey, Johanna. “The Alphabet.” Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society.
Ed. David Crowley and Paul Heyer. Allyn & Bacon, 2006. 47.
Ong, Walter. “Orality, Literacy and Modern Media.” Communication in History: Technology,
Culture, Society. Ed. David Crowley and Paul Heyer. Allyn & Bacon, 2006. 66.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
USA is Textual All the Way!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Race from Literacy
DTC 375: Language, Texts &Technology
Dr. Farman
February 9, 2009
Word Count: 876
The Race from Literacy
Our culture is racing toward an ever more oral ever more visual world. What evidence do we have of this evolution? How can we appear to be so attached to textile communication and make the claim that we are evolving to a more oral and visual world?
The evidence is all around us-
Symbols are appearing more and more often in our lives. At times it is as though I am going to be sucked into a hybrid world of reality and ‘toons’ like in the 1988 cartoon fantasy film Roger Rabbit.
I recently ‘upgraded’ to the Microsoft 2007 version of Office. There were some tabs but under each were an array of symbols and some text. I recognized most of the symbols and the ones I did not I was able to figure out fairly easily. The hardest part was that they were not in exactly the same place I was accustomed to. It was a good thing the program had the question mark “symbol” to help me.
I started to think about this new and improved layout and how it was different from the older version. The old one had tabs and under each tab it had words and maybe some special shortcut consisting of a couple of letters. It was still soft and friendly but not quit as soft as the 2007 cartoon version.
I went back even further and remembered the original layouts where the ‘windows’ looked as if they were stamped out of old bulkheads. They were industrial and cold and except for a few colors they were all words with a few icons that opened the windows.
Before the windows Graphical User Interface (GUI) there were all kinds of operating systems for different applications. They were cold, flat, colorless for the most part, and not inviting.
If we turn around and look forward we can see that the textile/literary world has refused to stay put. The message has evolved forward from a literary culture to one consisting more of orality.
The trail to the past gets further and further away from these icons and visual representations. As we approach Johannes Gutenberg who is credited for inventing the printing press at around 1450, it has only been about 500 years. The early prints were more letter than picture. Over time they started to incorporate pictures much like the way the computer culture has evolved to a degree.
In both the printing press and the computer the first uses were the most basic. The inventions were treated more like tools than toys. As the equipment became more accessible it gave people a chance to grow on their own in their own free way. Each time they grew they pulled images into the system.
Are we Textile?-
It would seem that a textile world would be reserved for mechanical operations, record keeping, logic, etc. and could never be replaced by symbols however Alexander Marshacks statement “man was making images and keeping symbolic records more than 25000 years before the invention of true writing “ (5) would seem to indicate otherwise.
Lewis Mumford writes “Finally, and not least, I have chosen printing because it shows, in the course of its own development, how art and techniques may be brought together, and how necessary it is, even for technical development, to have the person that presides over the process refresh himself constantly at those sources of life from which the symbol, in its purest form, comes forth” (91). Mumford’s statement seems to reinforce the idea that no matter what technology is tangled up in our communication process our communication can be traced back to symbols.
Imagine meeting another individual. The two of you speak entirely different languages. Your first efforts to communicate would probably be to point at objects or make motions with your arms. If the object you are referencing is not there then you would be forced to use simple drawings or symbols. You do not even have to be a very good artist. As the world continues to shrink and we interact with different cultures it becomes more and more important to communicate with symbols understood by all.
It is admittedly hard to imagine a world entirely without text but just when you think you can’t separate the two it happens. I drove a car the other day and the only word on the console was ‘PRNDL’. Even without any text I had no trouble figuring out how to defrost the rear window or any of the other operations.
Although we may seem at times to be swinging back and forth between orality and literacy it has to be admitted that to truly understand something, to know it completely, you have to see it in the eye of your mind and when you finally see it it is not text.
Works Cited
Marshack , Alexander. “The Art and Symbols of Ice Age Man.” Communications in History: Technology, Culture, Society. Ed. David Crowley and Paul Heyer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2007. 5.
Mumford, Lewis. “The Invention of Printing.” Communications in History: Technology,
Culture, Society. Ed. David Crowley and Paul Heyer. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2007. 91-92.
Government and Legal Institutions Maintain the Dominance of Required Textual Credibility
Kelly Collier Rauh
DTC 375: Language, Texts & Technology
Dr. Jason Farman
Essay Prompt #2
Word Count: 918
February 18, 2009
Works Cited
Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses: Notes Towards an Investigation.” Trans. Ben Brewster. Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1971. Print.
McLuhan, Marshall. “The Gutenberg Galaxy.” Essential McLuhan. Eds. Eric McLuhan and Frank Zingrone. New York: Routledge, 1995. 114-139. Print.
“Tri-Cities, WA Fast Facts.” Tri-City Industrial Development Council. Web. 18 Feb. 2009 <http://www.tridec.org/index.cfm?regid=%23%2F%40%20(%0A&fwnavid=%23%2F%40H(%0A&navMode=(%3FT%3D%3A(Y%3EJ%3B1%5C%20%0A>.
Trumbo, John. “Storage Options for Public Records Could be Costly for Benton County.” The Tri-City Herald [Kennewick, WA] 3 Mar. 2008: B1. Print.
Goldless Arches
Beau Yancey
02/12/09
DTC 375
Dr. Farman
Word Count: 785
Goldless Arches
In David Crowley’s book “Communication in History” he states, “In a primary oral culture, where the word has its existence only in sound, with no reference whatsoever to any visually perceptible text, and no awareness of even the possibility of such a text, the phenomenology of sound enters deeply into human beings’ feel for existence, as processed by the spoken word.” (
This concept was placed into action during the early stages of radio advertising. The jingle is still a widely used advertising tool that implants into our minds a brief segment of sound. Once we hear the jingle, we might not know what it is that is being sold to us subconsciously, but the sound of the jingle will linger with us much longer that reading it in text.
Another form of advertising on the highway is a billboard. Initially billboards were created with imagery and text. During the five to ten seconds that you can actually see the billboard, the imagery needs to be such that it will entice the driver to stay at their hotel, or pull over for an amazing meal. During recent years, we have seen this canvas change dramatically. The days of the stationary plywood billboard are long gone. The more effective billboards have multiple advertisements on them and change two or three times during the same driving period. Motion has been added to catch the attention of the driver. For the effective billboards that do not move, three dimensional objects are displayed, such as a half of a boat running through the advertisement. My personal favorite is a worker’s compensation firm in
If you were to drive down
Even the way we get information about world events has changed. When I was a child I enjoyed reading the newspaper with my Dad before he went to work. The experience, which is what it was because of the time involved, was very different from what it is today. Everything there is to know about world events can now be compacted into thirty minutes in your evening news. There are no more flipping through pages, or skipping the classified ads. Anything of importance can be placed into a twenty second segment. Anything more than this tends to be looked upon as a waste of time, however there are still longer broadcasts for those people who still have a need fore more in depth news coverage. Instead of reading about the war in
As time has progressed, so has our need for communication. From the beginning grunts of cavemen to the written words in monasteries and the various media forms we have today. It will be exciting to see how our culture progresses, or perhaps even regresses. Where you word is your bond and no more literary documentation is needed. Whatever the case may be, the need for an oral and auditory culture will always be required.
Cultural Communication in Textual Times
According to Andrew Robinson, writing first began around 3300 BC on Sumerian clay tablets (Crowley, 41). He states that it “hardly needs saying that a person who can read and write has greater opportunities for fulfillment than one who is illiterate” (Crowley, 36). Methods of writing continued to develop and grow until paper was invented in China in 105 AD (Crowley, 85). Paper then led to printing which, according to Lewis Mumford, “swept across the world” (Crowley, 92). As texts became available people everywhere were turning to written communication, and the world started evolving into a primarily textual culture. Mumford stated that “it is hardly possible to overestimate the handicaps of illiteracy; for that chains one to the world here and now, a form of cultural solitary confinement, fatal to human development” (Crowley, 94). Mumford and Robinson both make it clear that text is an essential part of human life. Knowledge is acquired through texts that are immediately and always available to those with access to either technology or books. A world that is reliant on the spoken word would fail to effectively communicate vital information. Life would once again be local. The “global village” that McLuhan speaks of in “The Gutenberg Galaxy” would cease to exist (McLuhan, 117). We do live in a global village today. The world that we know communicates by textual means. Americans get their news by textual means, whether it is a newspaper or the internet. Some may watch the news on their television sets, but what many fail to realize is that the news anchors are reading text to viewers. It is not just the news; much of socialization has become textual as well. Cell phones, which originally promoted portable long-distance orality, now promote portable long-distance textuality. Keys once used for dialing numbers have now been turned onto their sides to form full QWERTY keyboards. Individuals are turning to the internet for networking. These people are finding it easier to communicate with a greater number of people over a lesser period of time. Beyond socialization, throughout history education has been turning more and more to textuality. In “A is for Ox”, Barry Sanders argues that gang violence is influenced by the common grounds of illiteracy that is recognized in school (Sanders, 185). These “gang-bangers” then pull their sense of being from a traditionally “oral” world via the media (Sanders, 170). They become outsiders and are, in a sense, no longer a part of the society or culture that we know today. Without literacy, without text, they do not belong.
Socrates had a different view of education. In his story about the creation of texts, the king says to Thoth, “You have invented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom, for they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant” (qtd. in Crowley, 36-37). Socrates stressed the importance of educators, those who would orally transmit all of their knowledge to their student. The problem with such a method today is that members of society would end up knowing a lot about very little. This process would detrimental in a society that thrives off of knowledge. No person could be self sufficient because they would be reliant on the knowledge of other individuals, rather than the knowledge that they can seek out on their own through texts. As a society that is textual we gather our knowledge from a seemingly infinite amount of individuals through the written word. As the James Burke video, “The Day the Universe Changed”, points out, with the creation of writing people can know and do everything (Burke). Handbooks become instructors, and indexing results in interrelated ideas. Knowledge is much easier to acquire, serving as a great benefit for an expanding culture. Textuality enables our culture to become more educated because the ability to access information is much greater. Instruction is still necessary, but instructors can rely on the written world as a source of knowledge to communicate to students. Instructors can also provide written information directly to their students, allowing them to read it on their own.
Reading is another facet of textual communication. One individual writes and another reads. The reader then becomes the writer, resulting in two-way written communication. Jacques Derrida saw reading as more than simply reading text. He stated that “there is nothing outside of the text” meaning that everything is textual. Humans are reading all day, regardless of literacy. Derrida’s argument is that our interpretation of the world is a reading process. One example of this process is reading body language. Humans cannot escape literacy because they are constantly reading. Albert Mehrabian found that fifty-five percent of in-person communication is non-verbal body language (Mehrabian). This shows that fifty-five percent of what is considered ‘oral communication’ is in fact textual communication, helping to support the conclusion that our culture is textual.
Culture today is a textual one. Communication through both socialization and education thrive off of textual means. Individuals are enabled to acquire all types of knowledge, and they’re capable of communicating either that knowledge or other information to people around the globe without being in a face-to-face environment. Even in face-to-face environments, oral communication relies heavily on textual means with the reading of body language. As Derrida said, there is nothing outside of textuality. Our culture mostly relies on textual means as the dominant role of communication.
Works Cited
The Day the Universe Changed. James Burke. 1985.
Crowley, David, and Paul Heyer. Communication in History: Technology, Culture,
Society. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc, 2007. 36-94.
Cicada Magazine. 18 Feb. 2009
McLuhan, Marshall. Essential McLuhan. New York: BasicBooks, 1995. 117. 18 Feb.
2009
Mehrabian, Albert. "Silent messages: Implicit communication of emotions and attitudes"
'Silent Messages' -- A Wealth of Information About Nonverbal Communication (Body Language). 1981. 18 Feb. 2009
Sanders, Barry. "A is for ox." Vitage Books Oct. 1995: 155-86. 18 Feb. 2009
Reverting Back to the Caves: How Modern Media is Becoming More Orally Based
Dr. Farman
DTC 375: Language, Texts & Technology
18 February, 2009
Word Count: 924
Through years of evolution in our species and in the technology we create, humans have moved from an oral based culture to the development of written language and widespread literacy. However, as our technology has progressed we have began to revert back to the more orally based communications of the past. Modern day society is progressing towards faster and faster communications, of text based information is not a part. Because of this move towards faster speeds, writing has become less desirable, and modern media is becoming more orally based.
During the class lecture on "Culture without Literacy," McLuhan argued that the post-historic man of today is becoming more like pre-historic man in that the amount of oral based communications we use is growing dramatically. McLuhan says that the literary communication of historic man is focused more on an individual experience with a lack of visual input and more of a inner-dialogue. Pre-historic man was focused on a more social experience and focused on a greater involvement in the communication process. This is the direction McLuhan argues that post-historic man is heading. With the invent of cinema and the television, as well as present day computer-based information gathering, our media is moving more towards the pre-historic idea of quick visual or audible communication and is focusing less on literary forms such as books.
Walter Ong states that "With telephone, radio, television and various kinds of sound tape, electronic technology has brought us into the age of 'secondary orality'" (71). This secondary orality is the modern day form of pre-historic oral culture. Unlike the pre-historic version, secondary orality is "based permanently on the use of writing and print" (Ong, 71). As our society has progressed, we have been able to take previous forms of textual communication and form them into a more oral form, such as a film or a television show. Primary and secondary orality are both focused on greater social interaction than literary based communication, but according to Ong, "secondary orality generates a sense for groups immeasurably larger than those of primary oral culture," further explaining it by saying "before writing, oral folk were group-minded because no feasible alternative had presented itself. In our age of secondary orality, we are group-minded self-consciously and programmatically. The individual feels that he or she, as an individual, must be socially sensitive" (71). In a way we are so overwhelmed by information from all parts of the world that this sense of a "global village" as McLuhan put it, has forced us to become a more social-based society again.
Modern technology has also played a very great factor in the growth of oral culture today. It began with the increased speed of transportation. With the invention of the train, and steamboats, and later on the creations of the automobile and the airplane, transportation speeds have increased exponentially from the days of horses. We are now able to travel anywhere in the world in a matter of hours, not days or weeks. With the leaps forward in communication technology from the telegraph to the internet we are now able to talk to someone on the other side of the world in seconds. We no longer rely on sending written messages and waiting weeks for people to get them, we can reach information and distribute it again instantly. This has been the greatest factor in transforming our culture from text-based back to a more oral-based one. These creations have sped up our lives so much that we no longer want to sit down and read a book. Why should we spend days reading something when we can just watch the movie that was based on the book which only takes a couple hours? Newspapers are even going out of business due to how fast people can get the information on 24 hour news stations on television or on the internet. Even with as much textual information as there is on the internet, more and more media online is becoming oral. YouTube has allowed people to create short videos to distribute information rather than writing it out. Websites are also becoming more flash-based to entertain the user with visual information. Instead of giving them a page of text to read, they will show elaborate displays with audio and video to convey their message because they want to keep the viewer's attention. Text messages have also moved away from complete text and have instead tried to speed their form of communication up as well by using acronyms and abbreviations to quickly deliver a message.
Media today is far different than it was a couple centuries ago. Our drastic improvements in transportation and communication technologies has changed our culture from a textual one to an oral one again. This new form of secondary orality has influenced almost all aspects of media that we view today. Our society continues to move faster and faster as technology progresses, and the media we use is trying desperately to keep up. The text-based medium is slowly getting changed into visual and audible media which allows us to quickly get what we need and move on, and with the rate society is moving, it doesn't look like that is going to change any time soon.
Works Cited
Ong, Walter. "Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media." Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society. Ed. David Crowley and Paul Heyer. Boston: Pearson, 2007.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Kelly Rauh: E-Mail: Major Gain for Those With Hearing Loss (1700+ words)
From: and To:
Internet communication originated between huge computer terminals conveying typed words to readers, but it has matured into much more. Electronic messages built on the post office mail qualities of read-only text that traveled across space, from a single sender, to one or more receivers. Electronic mail imitated the telegraph and telephone characteristics of nearly immediate delivery and the possibility of almost real-time responses. E-mail combined the brevity of a business memo with the duplication and permanent nature of photocopies.
Today, e-mail has evolved into a medium routinely used by millions worldwide as an often-preferred, home and business communications channel. It has grown beyond its predecessors’ capabilities, encompassing mobile access via wireless technology (along with cell phones), and the inclusion of photos, graphics, audio and video information. E‑mail offers unique screening options, convenient sorting, prioritizing, filing and retrieval capabilities not feasible with earlier media. Transmitting large files of data instantly with no use of paper, ink, postage, copiers, or added labor are amazing advancements.
Did You Know?
One of the most technologically influential early e-mail users was hard of hearing.
Vinton Cerf, co-developer of the Internet, has a severe hearing loss. Surrounded by the whirring fans of computers, Cerf had a hard time hearing technical information over the phone and found e-mail communication “a relief” (Myers, 2000).
Could Cerf have imagined how widespread this phenomenon would become?
E-mail is the most commonly used category of current U.S. online activities. According to the December 2008 survey by Pew Research Center, “74% of American adults use the Internet,” and 91% of those individuals report using e-mail regularly (Pew, 2009).
A significant portion of the U.S. population has hearing loss. Based on federal data and published research, Gallaudet University (2009) estimates,
If everyone who has any kind of ‘trouble’ with their hearing is included, then ... 37 to 140 out of every 1,000 people in the United States have some kind of hearing loss, with a large share being at least 65 years old.”
Since many who are hard of hearing are also over 65, they commonly experience arthritis in their fingers, or Parkinson’s hand tremors. One specific benefit of e-mail is that “typing is less painful and easier to read than unsteady handwriting” (Dugan, 2002).
Courtesy and Privacy
The noiseless quality of e-mail is a courtesy to household members sleeping nearby (Burgstahler, 2008) and co-workers in close proximity. It’s a polite alternative to cell phone calls in public places--restaurants, stores, and waiting rooms--both for keeping personal matters confidential, and for allowing forced listeners nearby to enjoy fewer distractions. This is a particular advantage for anyone who speaks with a louder-than-average volume (in person and, more often, over the phone), whether due to hearing challenges or merely an annoying habit.
E-mail affords privacy over answering machines and online voicemail that play back recorded verbal messages to all within hearing range. Message privacy can be a special challenge for those using amplified (“hearing booster”) phones, speakerphone features, or cell phones with the volume set high. E-mail offers a discreet solution for those incoming communiqués, as well as the receiver’s outgoing responses.
Triumphing Over Background Noise
E-mail enables communication in noisy environments. Unlike using cell phones, landlines and pay phones, background interference doesn’t frustrate correspondents reading or composing online messages. For anyone with hearing loss, this benefit greatly reduces stress, especially those employed in busy office environments or living with multiple children. E-mail brings freedom: there’s no more asking to repeat (Dugan, 2002), and it can be understood completely without any strain (Myers, 2000).
Archival Qualities
E-mailers have access to any correspondence they don’t delete. In business, this provides verification of precise wording used, motivating a higher standard of clarity and professionalism. Filed volleys are often valuable in solving misunderstandings. We’re able to forward previous notes as clarification--as long as we use great discretion and seek permission before passing along another’s words. In personal relationships, notes we consider “keepers” are convenient for re-reading.
The “save” feature for composed e-mail messages offers unique benefits, too. When we wait to cool off before sending emotional responses, we can review and retract words we might later regret. This is a rare asset not shared by face-to-face interaction, phoning, or even hand-written letters which might seem to be too much trouble to re-do.
Mass Mailings
A major asset of e-mail is simultaneous distribution to multiple recipients, but this frequently gets abused Those receiving prolific forwarded Internet clips face a challenge to tactfully let senders know personal limits, or just keep deleting that friendly spam. Yet, e-mail is the most time-efficient channel for advising family and friends of hospital updates, funeral arrangements, and other time-sensitive announcements. It lessens emotional drain when e-mail spares senders the need to repeat dramatic or heart-wrenching details. These advantages are magnified for hearing-impaired individuals on both ends of such communications. E-mail reduces anxiety created by the desire to pass along accurate information, and respond appropriately, when others are in distress.
Meeting Challenges
The capability of some e-mail programs, such as iCal and Outlook, to arrange meetings with multiple parties is a tremendous time saver. As users post appointments and available hours to a laptop or desktop, their blocked-out segments can be viewed (minus details) on schedulers’ computer screens. An initial invitation for a specific date and time--shown as without conflict for all--can be accepted, declined, or set as “tentative” by each person responding. Once everyone accepts the time, a single keystroke adds it to each individual’s calendar with no further reminder system required. If users have enabled alarms, they will even be prompted before the meeting begins.
Keeping in Sync
Synchronization of e-mail accounts between several hardware devices offers another organizing convenience. Several services, like Apple’s Mobile Me, use the Internet as a “cloud” of storage space for information in personal files including e-mail messages, address books, contact lists, and personalized calendars. Subscribers set up shared channels to either manually (when desired) or automatically (continuously) synchronize information between home and office desktops, laptops, iPods or iPhones. Reminder alarms can be set on any device to keep the owner on time for every appointment and task. As a bonus for those who cannot hear audible reminders, iPhones can be set to vibrate, and other devices can flash visual cues on their screens.
Quick, Convenient and Cost Efficient
E-mail boasts nearly instant delivery, round-the-clock access every day of the year, and the convenience of reading and responding at your most convenient moment (in all time zones). It eliminates “phone tag” (Dugan, 2002), and reduces disruptive phone calls (Myers, 2000). E-mail is less expensive than long-distance calls. Since managers often write their own e-mailed memos, and have staff use online calendar planning, e-mail saves secretaries’ salaries for other tasks. It lowers costs for postage, envelopes, letterhead, plain paper, copier toner, and printer cartridges. In addition, e-mail has replaced teletypewriters for many deaf TTY users.
E-mail Shortcomings
Often, by creating minor disasters, we learn when e-mail is not the best media choice. Anything a person does not want forwarded, or backed up by their employer’s computer system, should not be e-mailed (Alred, et al., 2006). Misunderstandings occur when word choice can be interpreted in more than one way. While telephone conversations between uninhibited speakers sharing a clear connection do add voice inflection, pacing, and pauses, no one can read lips over the phone.
Face-to-face meetings are far superior for immediate, interactive exchanges: personal relationship dilemmas, group brainstorming, complex issue discussions, and interviews. E-mail is inadequate for interchanges that need the enhancement of body language, facial expressions, and gestures to build rapport, rapidly modify plans or theories, or understand live demonstrations. The most personal, confidential, and cyber-sensitive messages at work are better handled “live,” behind closed doors. For the hearing challenged, opportunity to lip read and view captioned or subtitled audio media is vital.
The more informal nature of e-mail is typically viewed as less honoring to recipients than hand-written notes of thanks, condolence, and congratulations; emotionally charged announcements; love letters and poems. Mailed, printed invitations prevail for weddings, major celebrations and gatherings, in both personal and business situations. Although electronic greeting cards (e-cards) linked via e-mail offer sound and motion, they are undeliverable via servers with certain size or attachment restrictions (such as to addressees at corporations and colleges). Recipients lacking required playback software can be confounded. E-cards also convey less individual care than computer-generated (or even purchased) greeting cards hand-signed by senders.
Further Impacts: Ethics and Responsibility
For many, the importance of careful attention to word choice and diverse connotations has been heightened by the text-only, spontaneous, multiple-reader nature of e‑mail. Users must consider which thoughts--appropriate to a single reader--need to be deleted, tempered, or clarified before pressing “reply to all.” Ethical concerns have widened due to e-mail’s forwarding option and the convenience of cut-and-paste text copying. Medical and financial privacy, copyright infringements, and personal loyalties are among issues requiring closer scrutiny since the onset of widespread e-mail usage. E‑mail’s opportunity to include hyperlinks to web pages gives authors added responsibility to check sources before circulating broken links, out-of-date information, and products or content they do not wish to promote.
Conclusion and Predictions
The Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University (WebAIM, 2009) claims, “The Internet is one of the best things that ever happened to people with disabilities.” I agree, and further claim e-mail is one of the best things that ever happened to people with hearing loss.
I predict, as our generation ages, experiencing more loss of hearing, e-mail will steadily supplant telephones as a top communication choice. Until a superior medium develops beyond e-mail, our offspring--who are often computer-literate from early childhood--may be more willing to socially admit hearing loss as they age, and will be quicker to embrace the advantages of e-mail. This next generation will likely witness further reduced dominance of telephones--with the exception of iPhone types that can also access e-mail.
Bibliography
Alred, Gerald J., Brusaw, Charles T., and Walter, Oliu E. Handbook of Technical Writing. (Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006), 166.
Burgstahler, Sheryl, Corrigan, Bill, and Joan McCarter. "Making Distance Learning Courses Accessible to Students and Instructors With Disabilities: A Case Study." Internet & Higher Education 7, no. 3 (July 2004): 233-246. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed Jan. 25, 2009).
Dugan, Marcia B. Living with Hearing Loss. (Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press, 2002), 128-131.
Gallaudet University. Graduate School and Professional Programs. “Demographics: Deaf.” http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/deaf-US.php (accessed Jan. 25, 2009).
Myers, David G. A Quiet World. (London: Yale University Press, 2000), 161.
Pew Research Center. “Internet Activities.” Pew Internet & American Life Project. Jan. 07, 2009.
http://www.pewinternet.org/trends/Internet_Activities_Jan_07_2009.htmWebAIM. “Introduction to Web Accessibility.” Center for Persons with Disabilities, Utah State University. http://www.webaim.org/intro/#intro (accessed Jan. 25, 2009).
I'll Take Instant...Messaging That Is
DTC 375
Dr. Jason Farman
Word count: 757
Researcher’s at Microsoft, one of the leaders in the technology field, proclaim that, “[i]nstant messaging (IM) has grown rapidly to involve millions of users spanning a variety of platforms.” (Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz). They further say, “[t]he benefits of [IM] are numerous, including the ability to know when personal contacts are available, nearly instantaneous communication, and the ability to carry on several informal conversations at once.” (Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz). Given my busy lifestyle IM allows the benefits of an email with the immediacy of a phone call all out of the comfort of a laptop.
IM is a combination of two forms of communication: email, and telephone. The aspects of an email contain no on the spot reaction, versus the aspects of a phone call where the response is immediate. Instant messaging is distinctive in that, at any given time one could feasibly hold an IM conversation with a classmate, a parent, a college/boss, and a friend living in Japan simultaneously. This medium allows for an office to hold its scheduled meeting even on a snow day. If a company has offices in different states they can have weekly meetings without paying for travel expenses. File sharing on instant messaging is similar to attaching a file in an email in that the file goes to the recipient. With instant messaging you have the option of saving files in a file sharing folder that the participants in the instant message have access to. Except that after composing and sending an email, there is a waiting period. Your message goes into cyberspace and uses principles similar to when a text is sent. The receiver has a choice; respond now, or wait until a more convenient time. In this age of immediacy, one might have several instant messages going at once, all while checking their personal email, reading a blog posting, and playing Word Path on Facebook. It is this instant response that makes IM individual and with IM the thought is that there is no waiting phase.
One might argue that instant messaging is an extension of the chat room, and the same may continue the argument that both are filled with the face of anonymity and veiled with deceit. For current communication techniques the IM is specific to those you invite or who have invited you. The façade of anonymity behind IM may seem appealing to some, while others view IM as a transparent form of contact. Given that much of our face to face communication is non-verbal, IM does lose some aspects of clarity. IM can have real world social implications that crate ‘real’ meaning, humor, and distinction within cyberspace. Even emotional reactions can be felt through IM in the form of acronyms, like LOL, ROTFL, and LMAO. Furthermore thoughts can be expressed once through IM and they do no have to be further explained, since IM is in readable form and can be reread. Ultimately there is no need to ask a question multiple times as could happen with a phone call, and again in the age of immediacy this appeals greatly.
Last week a fellow classmate and I were brainstorming over IM about an assignment, which led to file sharing and ultimately further collaboration on additional assignments. We were able to accomplish several tasks in one IM; out of that situation decisions were made, and projects finished. Given the same situation in a phone call, the conversation would have been longer as we would have read our assignments to each other, rather than opening the file and reading it ourselves.
The contexts in which IM is appropriate are limitless. One can IM with their mother, spouse, or boss, although the tone of the conversation will be specific to each. In particular when IM with a boss or coworker one would not use a smiley face emoticon, or acronyms, but it would be applicable when IM with a person who is in your close circle.
Social Networking site such as Facebook and Myspace have their own applications of IM, and these same principles are used by companies today with their own IM in specific workplace networks. IM has moved past the original technology of a combining a phone call and an email in that it was originally used only in social contexts, but has moved passed this thought into the corporate world who are now using this technology to facilitate work productivity in day to day operations. IM has morphed into something beyond its original idea of connection and today is seen as a time management tool.
Works cited
Czerwinski, Cutrell, Horvitz. (n.d.) Instant Messaging: Effects of Relevance and Timing. Retreived January 24, 2009 from, Microsoft http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/cutrell/HCI2k%20Instant%20Messaging.pdf
Email and it's Impact in the work place
DTC_375
1/23/09
What’s the first thing you do when you get to work? Check your email. The introduction of this technology has revolutionized the work place. Email has changed the way we communicate with family, friends, co-workers, and clients alike. I am going to explore how email is changing the way we communicate in a work environment. There are several advantages and disadvantage to using this technology in the work place. In this essay I will go over the affects it has and how we use this technology.
The affects that email has on the way people communicate is a double edge sword. On the positive side email allows for short and concise communication between co-workers. There is nothing worse than when you go down the hall to communicate a message to a co-worker and you get pinned down by them or other people on the way interrupting your production. Another and one of the biggest advantages to email is traceability. What I mean by this is that every message you send out you have the ability to save and document it to cover your tail. I can’t tell you how many times people have come to me and said “I did not receive the email”, so then I have to go back and pull up the date and time I sent it to them so there is no more discussion on the issue and we can get back to the business at hand. Another advantage is the efficiency of email, I can send the same message to 1000 different people with the push of a button, this ensures that everyone gets the same exact message and also saves a tremendous amount of time it would take to call or send out a letter. These are just a couple of examples on how email affects business communication in a good way.
On the down side emails are making the work place much more un-personal for a number of reasons. First, email has allowed people in the work place to rely on a technology to communicate their message and has taken away the responsibility of the individual. This is doing two things; one is that instead of people making sure their message was conveyed to an individual, they simply keep their sent messages. This intern supplies a electronic paper trail allowing them to cover them self by having proof that they sent you the communication so if anyone was to question why ‘so and so’ did not get the message the person can simply state “well I sent it to him on this date” taking the onus off of him. Secondly it is slowly replacing the personal aspect of the work place. For example, many people will send an email to a co-worker who is just down the hall instead of getting out their chair and walking over there to communicate their message. A third disadvantage to email is the amount of storage that is required to archive all of the sent mail, it is said that email traffic should “double between 2005 and 2009, going from 64.9 million to 2 billion messages per day” (Martin, 1). Can you imagine 2 billion messages a day? People have become so dependent on this form of communication it’s hard to believe how we ever functioned without it.
Besides the above mentioned advantages to using emails over other technologies, another one is how simple this technology is. Anyone from your grandma to a 6 year old is able to email. We live in a ‘stay connected’ world now, what I mean by this is that technology has allowed us to stay connected 24/7. With cell phones like Blackberry or the Apple I-phone people are able to check their email anytime they want. This is especially true for the working person; he is able to remain in contact with his office any day of the week. This has several advantages in a working environment. You are now able to leave work and not miss a thing when it comes to communication. You could be anywhere from in a business meeting to on the golf course communicating and staying in the loop. This is amazing technology. Even though these devices have other applications, their main use is to check and produce email and text messages from anywhere.
Today’s world is all about speed. How fast can we communicate with other people? This is very evident in the way we use emails and now text messaging as the primary way to communicate. We have progressed in the business world from hand writing a letter and mailing it, using a type writer and mailing it, to a word processor for memos and faxing it, computer and email, cell phone email. This progression could not have taken place without the previous medium. We as a culture are constantly trying to improve and speed up the communication process, each new step towards better technology is reliant on previous mediums that are similar but not quite the same thing. As we keep advancing to bigger and better technologies one has to wonder how we can keep improving on what we already have.
From a business stand point the advantages that email provides; traceability, reliability, connectivity, and productivity far outweigh the disadvantages. Employers are trying to maximize the time that employees are able to be productive at work. Email has saved immeasurable amount of time in the working environment. So at the current time email is the best form of communication technology in business.
Works Cited
Martin, Nicole, “Keep Your Eyes on the Enterprise: Emails, Wikis, Blogs, and Corporate Risk.”. Econtent. Vol. 30.6 (2002), p54-59.