One of the chief complaints I hear about the Internet and our rapidly advancing technology is how it's ruining language and language skills.
Upon first glance at cell phone text messages, Internet forums and Twitter posts, it's hard not to somewhat agree with these pundits and naysayers.
"CU L8er I'm going afk. Brb, kthx," is not an uncommon thing to see in chat rooms and the like. In Internet slang (look more up on Wikipedia.com) it translates to "See you later. I'm going away from my keyboard. I'll be right back. Okay, thanks."
As a lover of the English language, writer and former editor, I get a little vomit taste in my mouth when I come across stuff like that, despite the fact I use some of those gems on occasion myself while killing dragons and orcs online. Most of you are probably equally familiar with the "lol" (laugh-out-loud) and "rofl" (rolling-on-the-floor-laughing) 'net shorthands. Limits on characters you can use in a message and the need for more rapid communication have forced our written language to evolve - for good or ill.
Well, I'm still voting ill for now (although, I'm not sure if I'm a pundit or a naysayer), but I do still have hope for the written word, thanks to that same rapidly advancing technology.
What is this new fangled thing that's going to hopefully keep our language skills intact, you may ask? Well, it's books, actually.
Yes, I'm aware this is a technology column and books are kind of non-tech, but bare with me. Geez, you're so impatient.
You see, books have finally entered the digital and wireless age now. Both Amazon and Sony have products out that put the entire contents of your bookshelf right in the palm of your hand.
Amazon's Kindle and the Sony Reader are what're called "e-paper" devices. About the size of a small paperback novel, these gadgets allow you to purchase "e-books" or electronic versions of real books and store them to read anytime and anywhere you like. Thanks to these devices, you'll never be without a book to read again.
Say you're at the local coffee shop, enjoying a double non-fat, mocha latte with extra foam (hey, this is the West Coast, right?) and you finish the last page of a great book. With a Kindle or Reader, you can just wirelessly browse other titles by the same author and download a brand new book to read in-between sweet and sticky sips.
The Kindle has actually been out since 2007, but as with any new technology it's taken some time to reach the mainstream consciousness. It's also not available outside the US due to copyrights and proprietary networks. Sony, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have those same issues and the company's Reader is (or will be soon) indeed available to Canucks.
So although there's really nothing we can do to stop our language from changing to meet our ever-evolving needs, at least we can be secure in the fact that classics from Shakespeare, Twain and Tolkien are coming along for the technological ride to the new age. And now that my column is done for the week, I can go afk. Kthx. CU l8er. Lol.
