D. Baron "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies" Review

"From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies," is Baron's argument that computers have changed peoples' literacy skills for better or for worse, and that word processing made writing easier than ever before, and better than any machine used for typing. What I found the most important about Baron's Article is when he says that writing technologies become more and more popular when they begin to surpass popularity of the previous writing technologies. It truly showed that the United States is constantly developing technologically. His comparison between writing and speech spoke out to me because writing does not offer any form of tone to other readers, but it does allows communication over time and distance. Something new that I learned was the fact that today's pencils used to not be meant for writing, but in fact used for marking lines for woodwork. Today's computers were not originally meant for writing technology. These two examples that Baron gave interested me because it shows yet again another thing developed for more than one purpose. Baron's main focus on this article is to explain writing technologies and how they have developed to how they apply to us today. I feel that this writing article definitely appeals to the audience Baron wrote this for. I am a very curious person, and reading this article teaches me about writing technologies. Audiences who are similar to me, that have no knowledge prior to reading this article, would be glued to reading into this because It starts off from the very beginning of writing technologies to modern day writing technologies. To me, it seems that the way this article was written was really simplified to about a tenth grade level so that I, as well as other readers, could easily understand the information provided. Baron wrote this in an excellent way for readers to understand.
From chisel and stone, to pencil and paper; Writing technology has constantly changed throughout history. Things like pencils and computers, originally used for a separate purpose, have developed so widely since they started out, show how writing technology has transformed over history.
Word Count: 353