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Inking making a huge comeback in Redstone 1

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
In the beginning there was ink and it was good (especially for girls pigtails).
Then there was type and it was great, especially with movable type.
Then there was digital ink and it's was as messy as real ink just in different ways.

Type is for the masses and is the great equalizer.
Ink is for the few and is the great divider. anyone can ink but only a few can ink well. (see what I did there)
Where/what will be the next technology for the masses?
 
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jnjroach

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
In the beginning there was ink and it was good (especially for girls pigtails).
Then there was type and it was great, especially with movable type.
Then there was digital ink and it's was as messy as real ink just in different ways.

Type is for the masses and is the great equalizer.
Ink is for the few and is the great divider. anyone can ink but only a few can ink well. (see what I did there)
Where/what will be the next technology for the masses?
Inking as in writing is for the masses, we lose some very real cognitive benefits through typing. Typing does not fire the same neurons that writing does. I'll retain about 10-20% of what I type, but I retain 90+% of what I write.

Here is a MS research paper on this:

Introducing The Innovator’s Guide to Modern Note Taking

It's a really great read, I sent it out to my entire team.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Inking as in writing is for the masses, we lose some very real cognitive benefits through typing. Typing does not fire the same neurons that writing does. I'll retain about 10-20% of what I type, but I retain 90+% of what I write.

Here is a MS research paper on this:

Introducing The Innovator’s Guide to Modern Note Taking

It's a really great read, I sent it out to my entire team.
It would be interesting to see the effects on someone who learned to type first and didn't pickup writing until their teenage years (I learned to type in HS). Typing for me is pretty thoughtless. my boss once was telling me something and I was writing code for what he wanted as he spoke then immediately compiled and ran it. I don't believe I could have done that with longhand. Not to take anything away from ink.
 

hughlle

Super Moderator
Staff member
It would be interesting to see the effects on someone who learned to type first and didn't pickup writing until their teenage years (I learned to type in HS). Typing for me is pretty thoughtless. my boss once was telling me something and I was writing code for what he wanted as he spoke then immediately compiled and ran it. I don't believe I could have done that with longhand. Not to take anything away from ink.

Would such a person exist? Although society certainly seems to be going that way with toddlers and tablets. I think you are absolutely correct, in that there is a time and place for everything. While taking lecture notes, revising etc, i've found i've learnt and remembered significantly more than typing (when writing, I can then go back to a page and know exactly where on the page a scribble would be, compared to a wall of text). However for writing up reports etc, I am far far more efficient for the reason you state. I don't even have to think, and can focus almost entirely on the research material. I guess it's in the name, touch typing. If I was writing an assignment, i'd spend more time making sure that I kept within the lines than doing actual research.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
when writing, I can then go back to a page and know exactly where on the page a scribble would be, compared to a wall of text).
What you describe I would classify as a form of eidetic memory. I used to read material and could remember where information was in the book or paper positionally i.e. 2/3 of the way through on the right side 1/3 of the way down the page located by flipping pages while focused on a specific spot (i never looked at page numbers for the most part so it wasn't as exact as those that do but i used the same method for finding a rabbits hole or squirrels nest in the woods were there aren't any page numbers and I didn't have GPS in those days :)) anyway the same worked with type written text by me... that is until I got older ... when I was reading a paper I wrote and thought this is good, who wrote this? Oh I did ... D'oh :)
 

bluegrass

Well-Known Member
I have lost a lot of my ability to write. I think it has happened do to the computer. I have had a micro computer in my home since 1978. I also agree that you retain more when you write than when you type.

I do look forward to more capabilities to write on the computer. Perhaps hand writing will come back to me. How long has it been or if ever, you have hand written a letter and sent it to someone. I know I haven't for eons. I'm thinking of bringing back that old way of communicating when I hit the road next year after I retire. 47 years as a computer tech is long enough.
 

hughlle

Super Moderator
Staff member
I have lost a lot of my ability to write. I think it has happened do to the computer. I have had a micro computer in my home since 1978. I also agree that you retain more when you write than when you type.

I do look forward to more capabilities to write on the computer. Perhaps hand writing will come back to me. How long has it been or if ever, you have hand written a letter and sent it to someone. I know I haven't for eons. I'm thinking of bringing back that old way of communicating when I hit the road next year after I retire. 47 years as a computer tech is long enough.

Twice a year every year ;) please tell me you don't type out thank you letters :O
 

bluegrass

Well-Known Member
Twice a year every year ;) please tell me you don't type out thank you letters :O
Ya. I'm well adapt at writing my signature and Thank you, but that's about the limit of what I handwrite these days. Try doing next to know hand writing for about 40 some years and than try and write a paragraph and see how it comes out. I think there is a lot to be said about hand writing and how much more personal it is.

I believe smart phones and other electronic gear has slowing been destroying peoples ability to communicate. Let's get back to having more one on one conversations whether it be in person, over the phone, or hand written notes and letters.
 

GreyFox7

Super Moderator
Staff member
Ya. I'm well adapt at writing my signature and Thank you, but that's about the limit of what I handwrite these days. Try doing next to know hand writing for about 40 some years and than try and write a paragraph and see how it comes out. I think there is a lot to be said about hand writing and how much more personal it is.

I believe smart phones and other electronic gear has slowing been destroying peoples ability to communicate. Let's get back to having more one on one conversations whether it be in person, over the phone, or hand written notes and letters.
Where's the handwritten only online forum?
Oops I meant Ink only ;)
 
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