Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!rutgers!mit-eddie!ll-xn!rkc
From: rkc@XN.LL.MIT.EDU (rkc)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re:Effects of poor writing? (Long)
Message-ID: <1382@xn.LL.MIT.EDU>
Date: 16 May 89 20:10:51 GMT
Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA
Lines: 25

I don't usually get entangled by these types of discussions, but...
In article <357@itcatl.UUCP> jonathan@itcatl.UUCP (Jonathan Peterson) writes:
>	I think traditional "literacy" is falling more and more by the wayside 
>as it becomes less important to human communication.  One can only assume
>that natural language, speech recognition, and higher resolution communication
>media (HDTV, ISDN) technologies will make literacy less important in the
>workplace of the future.  Literacy is already outdated by TV, film and radio
>for entertainment.  The industrial revolution made literacy a prerequisite for
>success, the information revolution just beginning may well make literacy
>unneeded again.

I think if you rethink this you will find that literacy will become more
important in the workplace of the future.  Consider what types of jobs will
utilize high resolution communication media--exactly those jobs known
as "High-tech" jobs.  These jobs require additional training that often
require understanding complex concepts that cannot always be represented by an
image or sound alone.  A picture is worth a thousand words, but the caption
makes it worth so much more.
	Finally, consider the issue of bandwidth.  People (who read) can read
and comprehend more words per minute than they can hear and comprehend per
minute.  (If you had to reread that sentence you will see why this is--you can
concentrate on the difficult sentences and skim the simple ones.)
	I think the high resolution technologies will continue to enhance
rather than supplant information transmitted by the written word.
	-Rob