Will texting make you dumb?

[porn$tar]

Hu?
When last did you type: Okay, see you later at about eight oh clock - on a normal cheap cell-phone keyboard?
It would take a lot longer than: K CULTR @ 8

I bet that you either have super thumbs or you actually not use SMS' as a primary means of communication.

That's right, I'd rather call somebody than bother with an SMS. Invariably you'll end up SMSing each other back and forth over something that could have been settled in 30 second conversation.

And I was referring to a PC keyboard.

Oh, and most cellphones have got predictive texting. Works like a bomb.

 

[Leostar]

"its faster".


Hell, how many kids could you ask to demonstrate the proper usage of these words?

were
where
we're

.

Hell I struggle with those “bcuze” I am Afrikaans speaking.
These words “sound” the same to (too?) me. LOL

Now where “were” I when they taught (thought) that in school.

Spellchecking is now use when spilling wring works
Spellchecking is no use when spelling wrong words.

I use similes’ (smiles’ ) when I cannot spell the correct words.


I just love the language with very similar sounding words. Sometimes one word can fulfill the duty of a few meanings, depending on context. Those are lost bcuze.

 

[Rouxenator]

To try and put a conversation into a medium such as writing is totally retarded and a couple of centuries outdated.

You loose so much in the written word - gone are facial expressions and vocal pitch - those alone account for more than 70% of a conversation. The use of inferior emoticons is not helping either. Writing relies heavily on complex rules for not only spelling but also constructing sentences so that they make sense and are grammatically correct. It is just so much schlep and in the end so much of the original conversation is discarded with before even starting to write.

I say we should kill off the written word - this is the age where audio and video is compressed so quickly into such small volumes without loosing the original intention behind it. To hell with writing and reading - take down the blogs and replace then with vlogs. Our human desire to communicate with 26 symbols at our disposal is almost as effective as communicating with each other in 1's and 0's. Let machines rather do that and let humans be more human.

Language and writing sucks.

 

[cmyplay]

However the rich canvas that some people can paint with elegances and a few well chosen words will IMHO make the readers the poorer if we all resorted to the shortest few msg txt tht w can g awy wth.

SMS speak is not elegant. People that use it sound like illiterate reality TV viewers. And if it's only used in context - as the article suggests - then explain all the idiotic status updates on Facebook.

 

[Kosmik]

My wife received an official letter from our traffic department last week informing her that she needed to renew her drivers license.
In the letter every single "you" had been written as "u" I actually need to find it so that I can scan it.
To me that is where the line has to be drawn, you get some leet txting kiddies and put them in a real job that requires real communication and they send something like that to a client?

I had a colleague at work send me a email like that once

It actually pissed me off no end. Yes, texting has its place, IN SMS'S! Not as vernacular.

As to the idea about it's here to stay, anyone who types like that on a smartphone with a IM client is just bone lazy and thats the impression you'll give.

 

[Kosmik]

Language and writing sucks.

I disagree, I still love a good book!

 

[Rouxenator]

I disagree, I still love a good book!

Books need to contain a crap load of information in order to describe even a single character or concept with enough resolution. Plus you need a few years of training (grade 1&2) before you can decode them.

A movie gives a much faster and more precise experience of the story.

Writing is very dated and needs to stop very fast. SMS speak is one way of killing it off, and thats good.

 

[Leostar]

Books need to contain a crap load of information in order to describe even a single character or concept with enough resolution. Plus you need a few years of training (grade 1&2) before you can decode them.

A movie gives a much faster and more precise experience of the story.

Writing is very dated and needs to stop very fast. SMS speak is one way of killing it off, and thats good.

How often do we say??

Saw the movie (film) and the book was better.
Some films are dam difficult to follow if you have not read the book first.
Plus was the script for the film erm ..not written first? We are talking films and not sex scenes in school toilets on cell phone films now are we not?

Pity I cannot flash that for you

 

[Rouxenator]

It takes you 90 minutes to watch the movie - how many weeks do you take with the book?
That is because the process is seriously slow and heavily reliant on your own imagination. You are not getting the same picture as the writer had in their mind. The power of the written word is very much over rated. Just because we have done it for centuries does not make it right.

Again I have to say that writing has brought this onto itself. I hope this kills it.

 

[davemc]

@Rouxenator, I can quite easily see the future consisting of video recorded contracts and everyone carrying around camera's (cell phones) that they use instead of writing.

Imagine a parliamentary sitting where the communications act video is reviewed chapter by chapter and live-edited where applicable, and where the president has to add his authority (signature) to the video by appearing on the video and basically swearing the new amended act into law.

Berry interesting indeed. Of course, people who can barely afford to SMS will be a little bit worse off.

 

[porn$tar]

It takes you 90 minutes to watch the movie - how many weeks do you take with the book?
That is because the process is seriously slow and heavily reliant on your own imagination. You are not getting the same picture as the writer had in their mind. The power of the written word is very much over rated. Just because we have done it for centuries does not make it right.

Again I have to say that writing has brought this onto itself. I hope this kills it.

We're talking about communication, not entertainment. Without the written word, you might as well go back to the Stone-age.

Some movies are for people with little imagination and short attention spans.

 

[Rouxenator]

Written word is fake and gay.

 

[RaptorSA]

Written word is fake and gay.

Therefore, your birth certificate is fake and gay

Imagine replacing birth certificates with video. *plop*...*waaa!! waaaa!!* *kots*

 

[porn$tar]

^
^ Proves the OP right....

 

[Rouxenator]

ROFL! Now that is pwn4ge - nice1 Raptor.

 

[davemc]

Therefore, your birth certificate is fake and gay

Imagine replacing birth certificates with video. *plop*...*waaa!! waaaa!!* *kots*

Exactly!
This would be an absolutely AWESOME birth certificate, it would include the birth mother, the mother and you.
A means is required to validate the video, but that is no more tricky than providing validation for a piece of paper.

 

[Rouxenator]

Should be harder to forge though.

 

[Na-iem]

Hu?
When last did you type: Okay, see you later at about eight oh clock - on a normal cheap cell-phone keyboard?
It would take a lot longer than: K CULTR @ 8

I bet that you either have super thumbs or you actually not use SMS' as a primary means of communication.

Okay, firstly, if you're going to be pedantic, "o'clock" does not expand to "oh clock", it's a contraction for "of the clock".

And secondly, "K CULTR @ 8" looks like the writer is trying to say something about "culture" (which s/he is possibly lacking )

Of course, you could simply have typed "See you at 8", which is only 1 character more, yet contains the same amount of information (see? we can be concise and efficient without resorting to word mutilation). In fact, this would actually be quicker to type since you'll have to set the phone to ALL CAPS, as well as cycle through the symbols to get to the @ sign, in order to type your "culture" message.

It takes you 90 minutes to watch the movie - how many weeks do you take with the book?
That is because the process is seriously slow and heavily reliant on your own imagination. You are not getting the same picture as the writer had in their mind. The power of the written word is very much over rated. Just because we have done it for centuries does not make it right.

Again I have to say that writing has brought this onto itself. I hope this kills it.

If you're referring to mindless entertainment, then yes, of course a movie is the thing for you. However, as you so rightly point out, a book is reliant on the reader's imagination, and I would add attention span and vocabulary, all of which is both used and improved via reading.

According to a study done by Kristy (née Freudenberg) Winzker as part of her Master of Philosophy thesis at the University of Stellenbosch entitled ‘Investigating the impact of SMS speak on the written work of English first language and English second language high-school learners’ (March 2009), although Grade 11 learners reported using SMS more frequently than Grade 8 learners, they used significantly less SMS language elements in their written work. The study covered the effect of ‘textspeak’ on written work in terms of spelling errors, lack of punctuation, over-punctuation, leaving out function words, use of abbreviations and acronyms, use of emoticons, rebus writing, shortening of words, use of slang, and use of colloquialisms.

Which means that Grade 8 learners use significantly more SMS language elements than their Grade 11 counterparts. Also, the article doesn't mention how extensive the usage is, it only gives a comparison between two unknowns

On the whole, this is just a rubbish article trying to make SMS language look good, or, at the very least, trying to make it seem acceptable. I wonder why...

Dr Pieter E Streicher, MD of wireless application service provider Bulksms.com

Oh, that's why.

 

[porn$tar]

Should be harder to forge though.

Not with today's CGI. :twisted:

 

[Grim147]

Orealy