Writing has had an important impact on our lives. The Age of Print has been used to describe the time of the printing press which allowed for easier and faster copying of manuscripts which before had to have been done by hand which, along with the previous issues, was also costly. This allowed printing to replace handwriting.
Nevertheless, all forms are writing involve what is called a writing space. As J. D. Applen describes in “Old Media, New Media, and Knowledge”, a writing space is a visual field where we compose our writing. The changes in it can affect our ability to think and communicate, as it gives us differing ways to say our thoughts.
Heading into the digital age
The later age of print has been used to describe the current age. We still use print but often in electronic formats such as Word and websites. While some information can still only be found in print, that isn’t the case for all. As we transfer more traditional texts to digital, it’s debatable whether traditional print will be eliminated.
To better understand, we must explain the term remediation. It essentially describes the shift to a newer media, but it takes the characteristics of the previous form but then refashions it. It often implies there’s an improvement that has been made. For example, the printing press made books no longer a commodity. Redemption shows how all media is continuously changing.
However, it isn’t always an improvement in certain aspects. When it comes to writing, ones done in a literary format aren’t as tangible as ones on a screen. While the book and thus the writing will exist even closed when it comes to digital, when the screen is turned off, the words aren’t ‘actually’ there. The medium can change how we perceive the media it displays.
However, I still prefer screen reading over books any day.
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