Porter's "Cyberwriter's Tale" as "Written for a Web Audience"

Personal Reflections

I found Peterson's article engaging because of his anecdotes. I, too, was personally humiliated by a nun in Catholic school for my handwriting: "You're the messiest girl I've ever seen." He also seemed to take real enjoyment in learning new technologies and he speaks about the different machines he used as if he were talking about old friends. Of course, he remembers some more fondly than others, but even the splattering cartridge ink pen merited a picture. I also felt that I got to know Peterson through his work habits.

Writing as Technology

In light of the "English Downfall" video that depicts Hitler as a Language Nazi, I found it extremely interesting that the demise of language has been lamented by those as far back in history as Plato. According to Peterson, Plato feared writing and thought it would "harm human memory" (387). That line was a turning point for me in understanding this article. Even the act of writing is technology, because it was a fundamental change in the way that people communicated. Therefore, technology can change the way that people create language, but it is only when the way that people communicate evolves that we experience a revolution.

"We didn't start a field called 'pencils and writing'" (384).

Peterson takes care to note that the computer itself, when used for word processing or media creation, is not revolutionary. For him, "the revolution is the networked computer and the social/rhetorical contexts it creates and the way its use impacts publishing practices. All that is revolutionary" (385). Therefore, it is the act of using the computer, communicating through the internet that is revolutionary. I absolutely agree. Pencil, pen, typewriter, electronic typewriter, word processor, computer hooked to a printer: they all produce the same sentence on a piece of paper. But a network makes it possible for multiple people to read and edit a written text at the same time.

(On a different topic, I was wondering about the word "written." Does it only refer to something that was set down in writing? Is created a better term because most of digital writing is never actually printed?)

Process and Form

The final reasons Peterson states that the computer and the internet have allowed a revolution in writing is because it has caused major changes to the process of writing as well as the form. Peterson notes that writing refers not only to the product but also to the "mechanisms for production" (386). This is one of the few points in the article with which where I disagree. Peterson notes that he used to create many drafts before setting down a final product, whereas now he can begin with the final product and merely edit. However, I think that most writers (from children to published authors) still compose many drafts. Their drafts may be more mental than physical. Also, one of the beauties of word processing technology is the ability to "throw away" pages and pages of text without actually having to physically throw away pages and pages. In that way, drafts are more flexible and perhaps more malleable than in the past. I think that most writers still follow the basic formula:

Brainstorm
Organize
Develop
Rewrite
Edit
Proofread

As for form, I absolutely agree with Peterson. Even in 2003, he noted that "We are already in the age of new media, where visual and video forms of expression supersede alphabetic text" (389). It is accurate that writers today can access more resources and more genres within their writing. My last post was about the digital article, and I am sure that digital articles will only continue to become more prevalent. Writing has always been visual (as both Peterson and Wysocki note) but it is less about alphabetic text than it has been in the past. This is less revolutionary but it is still important to note. We will continue to evolve our methods and forms, and I can only imagine what an article like this will look like in 20-30 years.