"A few other trends actually seem to be moving backward in the new millennium. For instance, audiobooks are a return to the oral tradition, and podcasts—talks, interviews, radio series—dispense with the written record completely. The codex—the book with turnable pages sewn between covers—was a great improvement over the scroll, but now, with publication online, we are back to scrolling again, which makes it hard to refer back to things."The above is excerpted from this article, which is excerpted from this book. The article is fun and worth a read, if you're interested in language.
--Mary Norris, Greek to Me (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2019)
via Laudator Temporis Acti
One of my pet grumps is links that look like they might be interesting, but go to podcasts or talking-head videos (which I ignore). Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams used to have a blog I enjoyed; now it's no longer a blog, just links to podcasts. There are plenty of reasons why I prefer text, whether on scroll, codex or monitor, to audio files.
- Most important, I can read much faster than I can listen to someone talk.
- I can skim over or skip material that I'm not interested in, or that I already know.
- I can easily re-read something, or check it against something elsewhere in the piece.
- I can easily reference footnotes, maps, indices etc.
And anyway, good writing can supply some of that tone and nuance, he said with a winning smile.
3 comments:
Good stuff - I don't watch or listen to podcasts because I can't hear them. Even if they have AI generated CC they are, at best, a source of comedy gold. I should probably take notes on what AI thinks humans actually say - that's some funny stuff right there.
It just struck me - I am becoming Helen Keller one lost sense at a time. Who said that?
Facebook should have been called Facescroll. That's one of the reasons I hate it. Nothing is indexed hence unfindable.
we are back to scrolling again, which makes it hard to refer back to things
Most frustrating for me, as I end up with tons of tabs open, and a full bookmark file I don't manage well.
And this part: Most important, I can read much faster than I can listen to someone talk. I can skim over or skip material that I'm not interested in, or that I already know. I can easily re-read something, or check it against something elsewhere in the piece. I can easily reference footnotes, maps, indices etc. But, you say, what about the personal intangibles -- emotion, expression, tone of voice, nuance?
Amen to that! I also read by scanning and picking points of focus, which makes reading online difficult. When I do need to listen for words and content with the addition of emotion, expression, tone ect, I need to take notes to help me say focused, keeping paper and pens next to the computer and readily available in all rooms/places where I sit and listen deeply to others in person or on the phone.
Since the arrival of COVID 19. I've taken up handquilting again while listening to Trump's White House briefings, which require no immediate response and are too slow-moving and wandering to hold my full attention. To date, I've completed enough blocks to put together a new twin quilt and finish the larger king-sized one started over 20 years ago while sitting with the boys during homeschool. A Covid-era accomplishment and completion courtesy of Trump and his round-the-barn and semi-ponderous delivery style, spiked with moments of notice!
Thanks for the post, Mumpsimus. I've yet to get to the links. It's kind of fun to have more to read and consider here than I can manage in one sitting, without losing my place!
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