Clive Thompson Reading Response

In his recent work, Clive Thompson suggests that the current generation of students are better writers than those of the past. Thompson claims that because of all the new technology theres more oppertuities to write. Technology such as Email, Facebook, and/or texting. Before, most people only wrote during class, but now there is other reasons for writing.
My own view is that technology gets in the way of things. Though I concede that it has made more frequent writing possible, I still maintain that things such as that internet are over used. For example to write papers before many people hand wrote them, giving a more personalized feeling. Now you can type a paper, Email it, or message it in some way. It seems less personal to me.
Although some might object that messaging, or Emailing people is fast and easy, I reply that handwritten work/letters requires more effort and more thought.

This issue is important because alot of people use the internet or a computer on a daily basis. I am not saying that using the internet is completly bad, I just think that people rely on it too much. It is so much nicer to recieve a handwritten letter or card from someone than an Email. I think with cell phones and letter writing we could achieve close to the same amount of writing as now. A lot of people keep journals or write peotry/music which is a better contribution to their writning skills than MySpace or Facebook. I think there is more motivation to write now. People's days are more stressfull and there is more to deal with. I believe this would inspire people to keep a journal or write poetry, stories, or music to help cope with everyday problems.

I agree that the internet has revolutionized how we communicate, but at what cost? Many people spend as much time as possible talking to friends online, but it takes away from everyday lives. Everyone has a that they could be spending time with. I believe that you could be doing more productive things than sitting at home, on a computer.

Thompson states that previous generations wrote only for classroom assignments and since there is more reason to write now, more people spend their time on the computer. With improvements in everything writting a letter could be just as easy as sending an email. The price of stamps would be less than a computer, a printer, and everything that goes along with it. For what time people spend using their technology, they could be doing something really fun with thier family and/or friends.

In conclusion I believe that, as advanced as current technology is, it takes away from people's day to day lives. People could write for school, but also poems, journals, or stories, and could spend less time on the computer.