Before I begin, I got to say that it feels refreshing to not have to read Eyman and actually understand the writer’s thoughts. I get that complicating questions and interpretations are a part of English atmosphere, but Eyman goes extreme. Thank goodness that Applen was fun to read, even when he did get complicated at times. Small Tangent aside, J.D. Applen’s chapter on new/old media emphasizes the idea that-
“The act of writing is more inviting when using the personal computer, and involves a tool that more accurately reflects the process that good writers engage in when they write” (Applen 2013)
Now Applen isn’t wrong about this, I agree with him because blog posts like this one is a perfect example. But it made me wonder something else: new media would’ve never been able to achieve progression without old media’s capability. What I mean by this is that old media is super reliable because we use it to update new media. Think about comedy for example, there’s comedians and comedy show who use the power of “orality” (stealing this from Applen) to be interactive with others. We have now shifted from comedy shows to memes which still give the impact of a punchline- but bite sized.
While I believe old media should be praised for its viability, it’s no question that new media is more effective. The new version has been killing it when it comes to bringing people together. But finding new ways to make new media more interactive heavily depends on forms of old media. Especially when it comes to something like “natural human languages”. According to Applen,
“Natural human languages” develop over time; new words or ways to express ourselves come into play oftentimes as slang, and because of the fact that people use new words and expressions and they are understood by others in their community when they do. These new ways of speaking gain respectability as they successfully convey meaning and thus become part of the “official” language and are written down in dictionaries” (Applen 2013).
Overall, we should respect both forms for all its glory since they paved the way for progression in our society. Never lose respect for one of them because each serve different purposes. That’s why I loved reading Carli Lopez’s blog post, she recognizes this and highlights this problem. Lopez also describes the differences between old/new media, I think it would be best to read her blog to get a good picture of it. It’s just sad that Applen is never coming back and Eyman is.
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