Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Digital Will Always be Better than Print


History class teaches us that technology is an invention that makes human labor easier. The article “Why Digital is Better than Print,” by Dan Blank, Blank discusses why digital methods of reading and writing documents is a better method than print. Technology has allowed documents that were previously handwritten on paper to be created and stored digitally with an infinite amount of space. As technology continues to advance the old method of creating and storing documents are being phased out of work and school systems in favor of digital methods. Digital copies of writing are easily transferred from one source to another making information easily accessible from any device with an internet connection. “Once you digitize something, you unleash a world of possibilities. No longer confined to one medium, it can morph, evolve, be segment or expanded, be updated, be aggregated, be hyperlinked, and mashed up” (Blank). The advantages of digital technology are far better than print.
The old method, or keeping documents on paper, is a difficult way of life. Most documents were recorded by using pen and paper. For people who work in medical offices and court rooms that transcribe information, writing things using pen and paper would lead to hand cramps and fatigued wrists. Not only was the physical labor of writing things by hand tiring, all paper documents needed a space to be stored. Furthermore, print copies containing information do not automatically link themselves together. When you need to retrieve a document for information, you have to physically look it up and then go find the documents on shelves. The old method is time and energy consuming. Paper documents deteriorate over time oxidizing with the air. After about 20 years, paper documents are not viable sources of information. More rapidly, “The lifespan of a newspaper is incredibly short – just look at the trash bins at Penn Station in New York by 9:30am; they are overflowing with current day’s papers – already used up” (Blank). Even with important documents on paper, after a few days’ time the documents is likely to be rewritten or reprinted because paper documents cannot be altered.
The new method, for creating and storing documents digitally, is a technology advancement made human labor easier. When writing is made digitally it is accessible from anywhere. Digital systems also link documents with related information together. When they link similar information together digital devices give suggestions on what to read, research or focus on next. “This is one of the many things that search engines have given us – the ability to dive deep into the archives of all media to pull up relevant results the moment you need it” (Blank). For students with writing and research classes, there are applications that create work cited pages, spelling and grammar checks documents, and creates study guides for the people using them. This allows less time and energy to wasted searching and creating documents. Technology takes a long time to deteriorate and if the device breaks it can easily be fixed. Digital documents are stored with an infinite amount of space unlike its print counterpart and it is ecologically friendly because we do not need to cut down trees to create new documents.
Although there are many advantages of technology, there are some drawbacks that print is not affected by. The internet is one big server catering to everyone. At times, the internet service can be slow because too many people are using the internet at one time. The internet signal can be limited in certain areas. Both internet connection problems can slow down productivity. While print can be stay as only a paper document only and vulnerable to the elements, digital can be bound to the wall as technology depends on electricity to work. Batteries dying, broken charging cords, lack of power sources and city blackouts can interrupt work and study. Digital screens can also cause headaches and the internet bills can become high. However, for every advancement in technology, there is a convenience fee in some form that people have to pay. 
The many advantages of technology significantly outweighs the disadvantages. The disadvantages of technology can also solved with different strategies. For example, limiting the amount of data that people use or limiting how long people use the internet can reduce the cost of the internet bill and stop digital screen headaches. Critical exams are testing students using digital methods. This continues to show that everyone should transition into using digital documents instead of paper documents.


Blank, Dan. “Why Digital Is Better Than Print.” I Feel Fine: How I Learned To Stop
          Worrying and Love The Web." danblank.com. n. p. 5 August 2000. web.
          [29 October 2014]