Auto-correct: Why My Spelling is Shot

Having gone through the pain of unlearning (not by choice) how to write with pen and paper, I am again going through another annoying technology related development. To be a bit more specific, I completely lost the feeling for writing. I have basically been using keyboards non-stop since 1992 or so and I believe the last time I wrote more than a page of anything was senior year of high school. Now, when I actually try to sit down and write something, my writing is almost illegible and I really have to strain to write. It's so slow and awkward. I don't have the need to really write long text anymore but here and there it's nice to write a personal letter or note to someone. I avoid this because my writing looks like a three year olds chicken scratch.

Now, thanks to Microsoft, I've realized spelling is suffering as well. With Office 2007 and Windows XP, you have auto-correct features in your browser and all Office applications. I don't even bother anymore when typing to really pay attention to spelling. When I finish a paragraph or page, I simply look what's underlined in red, right-click and there you have it: the correct spelling, one click away. Don't get me wrong, I love this feature. At the same time, I realized recently that if I don't have auto-correct available I make many more errors than I would have earlier. It was simply then a matter of paying more attention. Now you don't have to.

This is more of an observation than a concern yet at the same time, I wonder what will be the situation in 10 years? Will future generations at some point simply forego writing completely? Will peoples' spelling really suffer? This will be an interesting trend to follow especially considering all kinds of further advances in technology.

Comments

[Jackie Danicki]

My penmanship has suffered horribly, too. Fifty words or so is about all I'm good for, max, and then my hand starts cramping up something awful. It's sort of embarrassing, if you have nothing bigger to be embarrassed about.

As for spelling, I feel as if the auto-correct feature in Flock (my browser of choice) has helped me immensely. I have always been an excellent speller, but certain words trip me up again and again. Until I started using auto-correct, I would avoid using those words just so I didn't have to look them up. Now I feel as if the accurate spellings are taking root in my brain.

[Paul J.]

I use Flock as well so I know how it feels. I agree that it helps me actually spell better but now, those words I always screwed up, will forever remain my "trip-up" words.

Oh and the hand cramps......yup, know exactly what you mean.