Journal 7

Print and digital media are unique entities that both have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, they can also be used simultaneously to perform a certain task, like the example of the air traffic controllers provided in Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Social Life of Paper.” Air traffic controllers utilize technology and digital media through the radar, which locates the planes in a specific sector, while also utilizing paper and print media through flight strips, which enable the air traffic controller to jot down incoming information pertaining to the planes he or she is tracking and is responsible for. Paper is advantageous in that it is spatially flexible, meaning that it can be moved around in a workspace, and that it is tailorable, meaning that it can be easily annotated without altering the original text. Paper serves a certain purpose that is commonly overlooked. In a way, paper enables us to visualize our thought process. The example in Gladwell’s article of this idea is simply that the pile of papers on a worker’s desk serves as a reminder to that worker of what they were previously working on and have not yet finished.

                I think that digital media is increasingly being introduced to workers as an alternative means of completing various tasks, but I also think that print media will never fully be replaced by digital media. Expanding on what Claire said about everyday writing being limited to digital media, I think that this would greatly impact the text’s audience and, hence, the audience's reaction to the text.