Q: In the reading, Hayles began by using monks to compare the literary importance of hand-written vs mechanically printed literature. They discussed how printing decreased the value of literature as precious artifact, allowed others the ease to flood the world with "commonplace scribbling," and affect the culture by letting uneducated people access literature and interpret the works themselves instead of relying on those more learned in the subject to do so for them. Given the accessibility made available with the invention of the Internet, have Brother Paul's fears come true? Has new technology lessened the value of books, flooded the market with nonsensical ramblings, and affected the culture through it's availability? Give modern day examples to support your argument.
Potential Answer:
While the advancement in technology has certainly affected the world, i believe that Brother Paul's fears, though having some legitimacy, where blown out of proportion. Today, books are becoming more antiquated as electronic literature is becomes more popular. But that doesn't necessarily mean that books are less valuable in our culture. They will always have a place in the world and may even become more valuable as technology makes them more obsolete. The problem with a system based purely on electronic literature is that while more available, it also runs the risk of being fragile. Power outages, computer viruses, and other manner of electronic mayhem can destroy thousands of books stored on a nook or i-pad just as easily as a fire could destroy many tomes within a library. Hard copies are always going to be necessary, and often literary enthusiasts prefer them to more advanced version (such as myself). There is even a niche for rare books that are much more valuable than when the were first printed. The use of books may be going down, but their value has not decreased.
As for the availability of electronic media, Brother Paul viewed such advancement negatively, but i see it as a positive result . while there are millions of blogs and tweets about useless inane crap, there are just as many with valuable thought provoking information. while technology allows crazies and jackasses to voice their opinions, it also allows those with something worthwhile to say have a medium in which to be heard. And just as written literature has changes the world for the better, so to shall the openness of electronic literature affect modern times.
An interesting question and within scope, but not the greatest answer -- it's pretty vague, for one, and second it sets up literature and eLit on an evolutionary continuum, while eLit is a genre unto its own, not subsuming literature. eLit is not simply digitized literature or online writing.
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