The Technology Behind Writing
September 25, 2024
There’s a Keystone in every great invention.
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Writing Tools and Their Electronics
Americans spent over $135 billion on back-to-school supplies in 2023 according to the National Retail Federation. That’s a lot of spiral notebooks and #2 pencils, or maybe there are more tools being purchased for education these days.
The writing tools used in education and communication have evolved enormously over the millennia, from ancient carvings to modern tablets and computers to AI. The advancement and application of technology in what once was the art of writing, continues to play a vital role in education and perhaps more importantly, our ability to think, create and express ourselves.
Recording History
The first inks date back 4,500 years to the Chinese Neolithic Period. A mixture of soot, lamp oil, gelatine, and musk was used to blacken the raised edges of stone carvings in order to emphasize shapes and letters. More reliable inks were developed using powdered minerals, plant extracts, and berry juices as things progressed.
We commonly associate the Egyptians and Greeks with early paper in the form of papyrus, the process of pressing strips of the fibrous pith of the Cyperus papyrus plant together to create scrolls. Its layered nature produced a fragile product with an uneven writing surface, leading to the rise of parchment, the stretching of untanned animal skin, giving a single-layer and a greater control over the thickness of the sheet.
A finer version, vellum, was produced using calf skin. Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom are still printed on vellum to this day.
Like ink, the mass-produced paper we commonly use today has its roots in China. In 105 AD, a court official of the Han Dynasty named Cai Lun declared a new composition for paper using a pulp of hemp and mulberry pressed into sheets. This format would be more versatile than heavy or brittle papyrus and bamboo sheets, and much cheaper to produce than parchment or silk.
But Who Needs Ink, Paper or Pens Anyway?
Since the 1990s, computers have steadily grown in use in schools. Once used as a rarity to teach children to type or as a host of reference materials such as Microsoft Encarta, now it’s common to see laptops and tablets being used in the classroom. Despite a higher cost than textbooks and notebooks, computers and tablets offer a way to efficiently update textbooks with ever-changing curriculum and allows for a far more mobile solution than the pile of books we all stored in lockers. A tablet with 4gb of storage can hold the equivalent of two tons of physical textbooks.
Technological tools have significantly transformed the writing process, providing writers with various resources to enhance their productivity, creativity, and efficiency. From general writing tools like Microsoft Word and Grammarly, to educational tools like Quill and Book Creator, to research tools like Zotero and Google Scholar to specialized writing tools like Livescribe Smartpen, Notepad and a host of other transcription applications, these technologies have forever changed the aspects of writing, how we plan, research, draft and edit.
Professional or amateur pen holders need help sometimes. New gadgets, apps, or software devices make all authors’ creative work effortless. Use them wisely. New technologies exist to make our life painless. Grammar checkers, editing apps, and cool accessories all serve one common cause.
Making your writing look flawless. Also, any original software for editing articles provides great value in today’s market. It can embellish style and structure, plus turn each author’s narrative into compelling storytelling.
There are fears that advanced technology in learning can be detrimental. There is a potential for the loss of some research skills, where a search on Google is easier than correctly identifying and referencing textbooks in a library. With the rise of Large Language Models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, fears of plagiarism and a lost art of expression in writing have grown.
Schools make use of similar AI tools to identify patterns associated with text created using generative AI. The real shortcoming in the current generation of LLMs is that while they are trained using relevant reference material, they often lack the citations necessary for academic text.
The technology in writing and education overall mimics our need for technological literacy, and forms key skills for tomorrow’s workforce to learn. Which leaves us with this one question: with all the learning aids, technical assistance, and shortcuts, what will humans really know and be able to do in the future.
A wide range of Keystone products are utilized in the modern technology used in education. Keystone products, including Coin Cell Retainers & Contacts, USB Plugs & Sockets, and LED Holders, Spacers and Lens Caps are commonly used in today’s tablets, computers, and interactive whiteboards.
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