Amy Golod Golod was an assistant
Viewpoint editor and a member of the Editorial Board during the
2000-2001 academic year.
Embossed stationery and felt-tip pens inspire me. Despite the
high-tech world that facilitates the writing process, I am still
drawn to the old-fashioned form of communication: letter
writing.
Discovering a hand-addressed envelope in my mailbox, recognizing
the handwriting, tearing the paper and enjoying a thoughtful note
provides a few minutes’ reprieve … without finding the page
turn blank from a screen saver. I can reread certain paragraphs
without the help of a mouse and pick the letter up again without
turning on a machine.
Of course, I love e-mail. I often find myself checking my inbox
at multiple points in the day, but the screen becomes a barrier,
creating an impersonal touch to an otherwise intimate message.
Communicating via the Internet is much faster and a daily
correspondence can be amusing and allow for short-response time to
questions ““ yet it simply isn’t the same.
Just as I enjoy a hand-written letter, I appreciate a printed
newspaper. Flipping through the sections of a daily paper and
selecting and reading the articles which evoke my interests are my
favorite ways to learn about the day’s news.
Many will disagree since they prefer to click on the home pages
of their newspapers of choice and use their cursors to navigate the
sections of the papers. They can even choose from multiple Web
sites and read one newspaper for local events and another for
entertainment reviews.
Words usually match on both the written and online media, but
the experience does not. Scrolling the Web page of the desired
article does not compare to spreading the pages in front of me and
scanning the headlines and photographs. Although some may say that
solely obtaining the information is most important, I disagree.
While the Internet is convenient for finding specific
publications or archived articles, relying on a machine to obtain
daily information encourages a fast-paced lifestyle. Breaking news
updates on the web grants a quick dissemination of facts, yet also
allows for mistakes since being the first to pump out the story
becomes an attractive prize. I don’t advocate boycotting the
advance of technology, because it offers an easily accessible means
of sharing news. Rather, it’s the race among media that
concerns me.
I suppose I am from the old school of thought where nothing can
replace a newspaper in its traditional form. At the same time,
however, I understand that change can be exciting and that taking
advantage of new technology can make for a positive revolution
without sacrificing the nature of journalism. Rational decisions
just need to be made to prevent negligence.
Whatever the change may be, I will always relish a moment with a
hand-written letter or a tangible newspaper and, afterward, the
temporary stains on my hands from touching the printed word.