Pencils to Pixels

1.
The author says that the computer is a gateway to literacy. However, I don't think people necessarily have to use computer for literacy.
2.
Writing is an engineering of materials to accomplish an end.
3.
Pencil is a technology because it is made through an engineering process to put our thoughts onto paper.
4.
Plato thought it would weaken our memories.
5.
Written word can be more accurate because people think before they write. However, they are not very interactive. On contrast, spoken word is active but not very deliberate.
6.
Thoreau thought pencils are better than other technologies such as telegraph, because he thought those technologies are just illusions.So he devoted 10 years to improve pencil technologies.
7.
Telephone combined the aspects of speaking and writing situations in new way. The introduction of the telephone for social communication required considerable adaptation of the way we talk. Just like the writing, communication using telephones emulated the facial expressions and gestures so it changed the way we communicate.
8.
Although it was considered to be too complex at first, people adapted to the technology and use it for their writing.
9.
The computer has changed the way we write, and thus changed the meaning of literacy. Also, the technology is still developing rapidly so it will change the literacy even more.
10.
The author implicitly defines the literacy as an ability to adjust new technologies for writing.