220. Word Processors

Since I like to write, I should certainly pay homage to my favorite writing mechanism of all, the word processor. I use word processing now more than any other form of writing utensil, except the ball point pen. When I was in school it was very unusual for boys to take typing, but I ended up taking it with a couple other guys because we all planned on going to college and knew we would have to write papers and, being cheap, we didn’t want to be at the mercy of someone else’s typing talents for a price. So, I never paid for anyone to type my papers. By the time computers were becoming common I was a step ahead of the game because I knew how to type. Typewriters certainly have a place in my romantic notions, and I still love them dearly, but I definitely prefer the word processor.

Word processing allows for hard copy prints of all of your writing, but you can correct any errors before the writing ever sees the ink on a page. Since I am anything but a flawless typist, the ability to proof read your writing and typing BEFORE it is printed is just shy of miraculous. With a typewriter you would frequently see writing with multiple words XXXed out, or gobs of white out with letters seeming to swim in a sort of goo. As a teacher, I had to type tests onto mimeograph sets or carbon paper, so not only would I have to correct the top page with white out, I would have to peel the top sheet off and scrape the mis-typed letter off the second page then stick a bit of the mimeograph page between the two and bang out the correct letter on the second go round. I certainly would not draft my writing on a typewriter unless it was likely going to be retyped entirely. With a word processor you can just let the thoughts flow from your fingertips, careless of the fact that you reversed the i and the e because it auto corrects those minor errors, and you can quickly fix larger errors in a proof read before you ever print, email or save it.

Of course, you also save quite a bit of paper by word processing. So many things that I write now are never committed to paper. I send emails out and if the receiver prints it, it’s a huge waste of paper. You can save all the electronic writings on your hard drive or a jump drive or even the old floppy discs and compact discs if your computer is really old. I do have writing saved in those slightly older forms and no way to access it now, though I think I probably transferred anything I wanted off that to a jump drive. I have a ton of writing from years ago saved in my email accounts which are also where I am able to access word processing programs now. Buying software for computers is more in the domain of companies now because the rest of us can access most of what we need for free or a few pennies to download on our phones or laptops. Truth be told, it’s probably more expensive to buy pen and paper than it is to get some form of word processor (unless you consider the cost of the hardware).

I’ve already mentioned all the reasons I love word processing, but I will not lie and tell you I prefer it over pen and paper because I love paper and books. To me they are truly more permanent and tangible. I more often than not, feel I need to print my writing that I see as valuable just so that I have it in tangible form. Any of this writing that you see online saved somewhere on a server seems bound to disappear more quickly than the physical writing. But I know that isn’t necessarily true. We don’t have original copies of any of the ancient texts that we inscribe in our minds like the Bible, writings of Homer, Shakespeare, etc. So, the electronic impulses that are our word processing are very real. So, I love word processing.