Paper.Still.Useful.

I still read Will Richardson every time he posts but I find going onto his blog to comment a somewhat disheartening affair. It seems every time I have something to say on a topic on his mind, a swarm of other commenters descend and say everything I was going to say and then some more. Maybe I'm being selfish but being number 56 in a comment avalanche does not hold much appeal.

It happened Sunday when I read Will's post Get.Off.Paper. What a great post! I had insightful, original witty observations just ready for the comment queue. Maybe this time the comment pile up might be in the teens ... but nope, 47 others had yet again beaten me to the punch. So I did what any frustrated edublogger would - bleat out my frustrations (politely) on twitter. 

Dean Shareski gave me some welcome advice back but sadly, my moment of inspiration had gone. (They don't come along very often.) But I did come up with one use for paper (the topic of Will's post) that I hope won't be replaced by digital technology anytime soon. See below for my 5 year old son's effective use of this extremely popular medium.

Hopefully, I can briefly speak to Will himself about a few things in March when our paths cross here in my home town for a conference where he is the featured speaker. I'm looking forward to that opportunity as a local presenter- the BlogFather has always been generous with his time and ideas. Many of us C-listers get excited when comments for a post hit double figures but for an A-list edublogger like Will, it must take a certain amount of energy and commitment to keep track of the traffic his blog generates. And no, you wouldn't want all that on paper.

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5 thoughts on “Paper.Still.Useful.

  1. Bill Genereux

    When I was a Navy sailor back in the day, it was a big deal when they announced “flight quarters” meaning a helicopter was inbound possibly bringing news from the outside world. “Mail Call” were the sweetest words possible to a sailor spending a long time at sea.

    It’s been nearly twenty years since my last ocean voyage, but I still have a box containing almost every letter sent to me while I was off in far-away places that almost seem like a dream to me now. Every once in a while for fun, I dig some of those letters out to see what people wrote to me, and I treasure each of them dearly. Some are hand-written notes from family members no longer living and these are especially dear to me.

    These days, sailors have access to nearly instant electronic messages, anywhere in the world. I suspect that “Mail Call” has lost some of it’s luster that it once had. Yet I cannot imagine some future sailor twenty years hence going back and lovingly perusing his e-mail collection that he is currently amassing. It is doubtful that most of this sort of correspondence is even being saved for posterity.

    To me, the suggestion that paper is of limited value is ludicrous. Yet I find that I have fallen into a hypnotic digital trance, rarely bothering to make any written correspondence anymore. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’m off to go write some letters!

    Reply
  2. Dr. Davis

    I think that paper is useful for a lot of reasons. I use paper notes and letters as bookmarks in my reading. It’s fun to find those pieces of paper in books I haven’t read in a long time. They bring back memories. I won’t be able to do that with online information.

    And, as you showed, they look great on the refrigerator.

    One reason that online info is problematic is the issue of multiple generations of computers and software, especially when the software disappears or isn’t supported after a while.

    But it’s also easier to keep information together on the computer. It’s easier to search for it, too. And it looks less messy on my desk. 🙂

    Reply
  3. aaryaman

    Instead of bookmarks & books, use E-books, theyre eco-friendly and u get better access to them. For bookmarks, write your page number on MS word.
    GO Eco-friendly!

    Reply

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