Task 4: Manual Scripts and Potato Printing
I normally do most of my academic and creative work on digital devices like my Macbook or my iPad, so writing this reflection by hand felt unusual but also refreshing. On a laptop, I can rearrange sentences, erase mistakes instantly, and polish my drafts quickly. Handwriting, by contrast, slowed me down and made me think more carefully before I put words on the page. It reminded me of the historical shift from scroll to codex: just as the codex allowed readers to flip back and forth more deliberately (From Scroll to Codex, 2025), handwriting pushed me to write with greater intention than typing usually does.
When I made mistakes, I reached for correction tape instead of simply pressing “delete.” This act took extra time and interrupted the flow of writing. It left small traces on the page that reminded me of pre-mechanized writing, when revisions were physically inscribed into the medium itself. The readings on mechanization note how Gutenberg’s press brought efficiency and uniformity (Mechanization: Before and After, 2025), but I realised that mechanical neatness often hides the pauses, hesitations, and revisions that handwriting makes visible.
I also noticed how handwriting reflects character and emotion. The speed of my strokes, the slight unevenness of letters, and even the spots where I pressed harder with my pen all revealed my mood while writing. This felt far more personal than typed text which is uniform regardless of who produces it. Bolter’s (2001) idea of remediation came to mind here: new technologies like typing may be faster and tidier, but handwriting carries a tactile authenticity that typing cannot replicate.
For me, the biggest difference between handwriting and mechanized writing lies in how each relates to time. Handwriting feels embodied, personal, and expressive, while mechanized forms (printed or digital form) are built around speed and mass distribution. Innis’s (2007) point about the printing press accelerating knowledge production made me reflect on how much I value typing for productivity. Still, this task reminded me that handwriting invites a slower and more emotional kind of reflection, one rooted in patience and presence, like how my favourite book The Little Prince reminded me of.
References
Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
From Scroll to Codex: ETEC_V 540 64A 2025W1 Text Technologies: The Changing Spaces of Reading and Writing. (2025). University of British Columbia.
Innis, H. (2007). Empire and communications. Dundurn Press.
Mechanization: Before and After: ETEC_V 540 64A 2025W1 Text Technologies: The Changing Spaces of Reading and Writing. (2025). University of British Columbia.
Economies of Writing -or- Writing About Writing: ETEC_V 540 64A 2025W1 Text Technologies: The Changing Spaces of Reading and Writing. (2025). University of British Columbia.