Week 12 Journal

Since the beginning of time, humans have used many different mediums to communicate information with the people around them. The mediums have evolved as a way to simplify the lives of those who use them, with each new method outdating the next. Paper replaced cave drawings and digital media was supposed to replace paper. The primary relationship between digital media and print is that they are both methods of relaying and storing information. There are some key differences between print and digital media. Digital media is limited because it is often stored on a large hard drive that is difficult to transport, while paper on the other hand, is flexible and can be transported easily. For example, in an office, if you have a document that you need to share with a coworker, it is much easier to print it out and walk it to him, rather than to unplug your desktop and carry the entire monitor and hard drive over to him.

Over time digital media may take over completely and render paper useless. The invention of smartphones and tablets have made it easier to transfer information. You can email, text, and instant message anyone with the tap of a few buttons. That little sticky note message that you needed to leave on your co-workers desk can now be sent in a text message and it is reliable because they has a greater chance of seeing it. Furthermore, computers take up less from than a filing cabinet. A computer can also store almost 500 times as much documents as a filing cabinet. As times change even more and our technology advances more, digital media can completely replace paper.

As technology advances, everyday writing will evolve. I do not believe that digital media can always be considered everyday. However, as the media evolves, it has already begun to change what everyday writing entails. 15 years ago, everyday writing was very limited to print, now, forms of digital media such as twitter and Facebook are considered everyday.