Writing Is Obsolete

Question: On the topic of “What’s Hot and Not Hot?” the following statement about writing is included as “Not Hot.” What do my readers think of the following statement?

Quote: “Surprisingly, writing is also on the coldest list. One literacy leader commented that perhaps the day is coming when writing will be obsolete. Voice recognition software will transform the composing process.” P. 20.

Comment: Back to the era of the Dictaphone. Dictated writing is like talking. It lacks the precision of word choice, the conciseness of Standard English at its best. It will be as imprecise as conversation, with needless repetition of words like “it,” “thing,” “get,” “there,” and the lack of clear reference for the demonstrative pronouns, “this,” “that,” “these” and “those,” and other characteristics like poor parallel structure, dangling modifiers, use of the passive as opposed to the active voice. The use of voice recognition software will lead to verbosity and lack of precision in writing. RayS.

Title: “Taking Our Pulse In a Time of Uncertainty: Results of the 2012 What’s Hot, What’s Not Literacy Survey.” Jack Cassidy and Doulas J Loveless. Reading Today (October/November 2011), 16-21.