pencils to pixels

According to this article, technology is the gateway to literacy. Which is a strong statement considering only half of people would agree with this. Writing is a technology in its own right because it is a new way for us to store information. The pencil is considered a form of technology because it is how we produce. Plato argued that writing was bad for humans, because it could inhibit ones memory due to that person just being able to simply write something down. A pro of the written word is that it is a good way of keeping record. A con could be having the tone of the writing be taken the wrong way, or simply could be easily faked. Thoreau connects to the pencil technology because his family owns a pencil producing factory and tried many things to enhance the pencil itself. The telephone shapes technology because it has a lot in common with the other early technologies of today, it was looked at as impractical before. As it progressed it ended up proving to be very useful and ended up shocking society to how far it has come today. It changed the way people interact with each other, and now how often they meet up in person to talk face to face. Baron's conclusion is that even if you are skeptical about something, still see what its all about, don't just shoo it off. To be literate today, means to be able to not get out of touch with people, and only relying on technology.