Surface Ripples

Will Handwriting Become Obsolete?

As time goes on, I find that I increasingly turn to voice recognition software for a number of my routine tasks.

This article, for example, was dictated into the “Notes” app on my iPhone, copied to a WORD document for final editing and formatting, then copied and pasted to this blog.

In one day alone, I drafted six articles using this method. The main reason was that I had decided to work from home on that day, so I was in an environment where I could happily talk into my smart phone’s microphone, and no one would think that I had lost control of my faculties!

I'm one of the generation who was taught to write first with a pencil, and then with a fountain pen. I remember my teacher being highly disparaging of ballpoint pens (“Biros” as they were commonly known at the time). In her opinion, and I believe she was right in this, biros did not result in good script. There is something about the slightly increased friction of writing with either a pencil or a fountain pen that provides more control of one’s penmanship.  That said, some people can write neatly in ballpoint, so I guess it depends on the user. 

Fast forward to the 90s when my son was born. He, unfortunately, learnt handwriting from a number of different teachers each with a different style and therefore writing became a trial to him rather than a pleasure or something to be used “second nature”. He far prefers to use a keyboard and can use one extremely well. He is also very articulate when he expresses himself in writing (or should that be in “keyboarding”?)

One advantage of the new voice recognition technology is that it enables those who may not be able to write (e.g. because they're physically handicapped) to communicate with the written as well as the spoken word.  We can also speak into translation apps and communicate with people in another country (perhaps at times with unpredictable results). 

Be that as it may, I still believe that there is a place for teaching handwriting in schools. Not as some old-fashioned, traditional, oppressive system, but rather as a means of expressing one’s creativity and artistry. My daughter writes extremely well (I am talking about handwriting in this sense), as well as creatively. Her school essays and short stories were a joy to read. Like many of her generation now, she uses a keyboard at work. Fortunately, she works in PR and excels in this industry!

Not all of us, even those who were taught to write the “traditional” way (with pencil and then with a fountain pen) will necessarily have good, let alone, legible, handwriting. I remember one amusing story my mother tells of a shopping list my father had given her. One of the items on the list was “snoozle pins” (or that’s what it looked like to my mother!)

My mother hunted high and low for the elusive “snoozle pins” but without success. When she asked my father on his return, what these were he looked blank until he saw the list and replied “Oh, shoe repairs!”

It is cases such as these that make for variety and spice in life. Had my father typed the list out and then emailed or messaged it or printed it for my mother there would have been no misunderstanding. However, as I said before, this is what life is made of.  We will all be aware of stories of how illegible the handwriting of doctors is, and the difficulty that pharmacists and nurses have interpreting the instructions and prescriptions they write.

Be that as it may, I do fear that handwriting receives less emphasis. This will be a shame and possibly even a problem in the future, as we cannot always turn on our smart phone, open a Notes app, and then dictate a quick note, instruction, description, and so on. It is often much faster to grab pen and paper and scribble it down as it comes. Indeed, at my school, a method used by one teacher was to dictate notes to us in class. We learned not only to write quickly, but also to listen, memorise, and at the end of it all be able to read our notes!

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  

Labels: Leisure, Productivity, Social

posted by William Martin @ 09:20