A wonderful discussion
has emerged among the web elite about the merits of the ease of publishing versus
the production of good writing. However, I think that if you read them, they
have confused three very important concepts: Publishing, writing, and technology.
Good technology does enable ease of publishing. Ease of publishing and good
technology will never enable good writing. Word does not make good writers,
Visual basic does not make good programmers. Photoshop does not make good artists.
On, and on, and on… Founders
of blogger are pissed
at Neilsen that he didn’t mention them. Jeffrey Zeldman says most of us are too close to the
discussion to see the point.
Jakob
Neilsen – Content Creation for Average People
Webchick
and Carl Malmund – Techno Greeks, on media.org
HTML should be taught to kids who are heading,
or want to head in a technical career path. I’m in the development of a technical
vocational center for 9th. – 12th. Graders, HTML is on the syllabus, but so
is CSS, XML, photoshop, and web server administration. For many, it’s just a
part of web development. Doesn’t have much to do with everyday people, doesn’t
have anything to do with writing. Probably enough said about that
I think that technology has nothing to do with
good writing. Technology, the use if a tool, or ease of publishing has never
enabled good writing and it never will. The same construct applies to technology
and the creation of art and music. The ease of the tool does not enable or guarantee
great results, just a lot of similar results. Writers may have felt the same
way when the process of mass printing (Gutenberg press) was perfected. Therefore,
in that respect the evolution of the internet can be viewed as a repeat of history.
In fact, there is a lot to be said for the ease of production, through technology,
enabling bad, or mediocre, content to be spread even further. Thus, making it
very difficult for good writing to be found in the mêlée of bad
writing. Even worse, it makes it very difficult for good writers to be paid
well for their good writing. Unless you are S. King, no one will want to download
your book and pay you for it. Yet.
To confuse the discussion of ease of publishing
with good writing is a mistake. To talk of ease of publishing through the use
of good technology is wonderful The two things are very different. Talk of tools
and methods are for technical people. Teaching good writing and teaching technology
to kids are terribly different, disparate discussions