Memory – Writing is an Unnatural Act
Among other classical rhetors, Plato greatly downplays the worth of the written text, believing it is an approximation of orality and that orality is an approximation of thinking. He considers writing an unnatural method of recording knowledge. Additionally, he argues that it brings forgetfulness, killing memory, and that it is good for reminder but not…
Tertiary Orality
In some ways New Media (NM) and Digital Orality (see previous post What is Digital Orality?) are more examples in Ong’s concept of secondary oralities that are present in the electronic age, considering many new technologies, such as Voip and Tivo, are extensions of some tools to which Ong referred. In “Orality and Literacy,” (1982)…
What is Digital Orality?
[Edited 11.15.2007] Digital Orality is a term I have applied to refer to the way we communicate now with technology using audio and video tools and methods. In many of my past blog posts and notes, I’ve used the acronym AVNM (Audio Visual New Media) to refer to new media, such as podcasting, vodcasting, blogcasting,…
New Media and Personal Communication
In my post on 11.05.07, I wrote, “We are a writing, electronic, and digital culture. That is, we have writing, so orality is not going to replace writing. … However, what is important to examine is that communication can exist in this New Media (NM) in a form that is more oral than it is…
The Mother of All Tax Loopholes
My Sister wrote me today; actually, she just sent a link to the latest moveon.org petition. This one, which I do support, is to help prevent “the mother of all tax loopholes.” Basically, if you are in the highest income percentage, you pay virtually nothing in taxes. I signed the petition for congress to close…
Be Enterprising and Show Us the Water
A student wrote me last night with some excellent information for the class. All ASU students and faculty (anyone with an ASUrite ID) can download a little client (Mac or PC) to his or her desktop and use a ton of free software, including the major Adobe design apps, Dreamweaver, FrontPage, and other things like…
Must New Media Depend on Writing?
“Written texts all have to be related somehow, … to the world of sound, … to yield their meanings.” “Reading a text means converting it to sound, aloud or in the imagination… Writing can never dispense with orality.” (Ong, 8). “Oral expression can exist and mostly has existed without any writing at all, writing never…
From Computer Literate to De-Literate
“Computer literate” is obviously not a new term or concept; we hear it often to refer to one’s general ability to understand and use a computer. I suggest it applies to the general ability to use a mouse/keyboard, perhaps to navigate the Internet, or to create a basic Word doc with bold headings and numbered…
When will the keyboard go away?
I have little to say on this point. Rather, I was hoping that others might opine on this. It seems that there are increasingly ways in which to communicate/interact with the computer. This topic does have obvious hints at my interest in orality. I could see successful communication with a decent microphone/software set-up and a…
Is it wrong to type 2 spaces?
Recently, I was speaking with my Father, who is truly one of the smartest, most well-read people I know. That said, he is, well… less-than-proficient in his knowledge and skill of computer use in general. I know many people who relate to this situation (that a similar statement can be said of their well-educated, successful,…