Is Technology A Good Thing? Jenn Alves-Jackson

In the essay "Into the Electronic Millennium," Sven Birkets addresses the changes that the Internet is introducing into our world. Birkets first points out the changes that took place in the history of language. He refers to the switch from verbal to written forms of communication. In this case, Birkets uses the example of the Greeks. He points out how the Greeks relied on oral communication to pass along opinions, teachings, and ideas. However, the period of oral communication overlapped the written period. Eventually oral communication was surpassed by written print. During the written period, books were created to share information with others. These written works would be passed on to future generations in order to share past discoveries.

According to Birkets, an overlap of communication is happening again. The written period is overlapping a period of electronic technology. Birkets speaks passionately about the use, structure, and form of books. He compares it to the reading done through electronic communication. Birkets points out that books are very different from electronic writings because they are private. When reading a book, information passes directly from the sender to the receiver. Birkets says that this process of privacy is not so with screen reading. Screen reading is publicly based, because information is shared amongst a network. It seems that Birkets believes that reading should only be a private matter.

Birkets also makes various other points; for example, he tells how technology diminishes the amount of privacy that a person has behind closed doors. Birkets says that, due to technology, a person is always in the presence of others. He means that a person is always connected to others through a wire or a cable. I think this is true. For example, in the past there was no way for a professor to contact a student after class, except by phone. However, the professor would only call in case of an emergency, because he himself would never want to be contacted at home unless it was important. Now academic life is much different. If a professor wants to add an assignment, he can Email the class before the next meeting. The professor can also have a class website where students check everyday for updates and changes made to the assignments and schedule. Therefore, there is not really a time when a student is not engaged in some form of class communication. Although Email can be a helpful educational tool, it can also be very intrusive, the same feelings of intrusion people have when someone knocks at their door during dinner time. There is no private time.

Another point that Birkets makes is about language erosion. Language has indeed taken on a more simple form. Words that were once used for intelligent conversation are now seen as words that are thrown around to imply superiority. However,this should not be the case. A broad vocabulary was something to be proud of and something that desired praise. In these times, it is not such a valued possession.

Birkets' essay brings out the problems with technology. For example, he says that technology interferes with a person's privacy and corrodes everything that is beautiful about superior language. These issues deserve some serious consideration. However, Birkets forgets to mention all the good and fun things about technology, like the convenience of having the world at our fingertips. Thus, his essay is clearly one-sided and his concerns a little overstated.

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