On page 66, Dennis Baron states (quite nonchalantly) that "penmanship is about to become a forgotten skill." He states this as though it's common knowledge that our society is going to completely forget how to use a pen or pencil.
While I definitely think Baron makes some valid arguments here regarding how computers and laptops have changed writing, the pessimistic reactionary attitude that "kids these days just don't care about writing!!" is really childish. For all the good things that Baron discusses in regards to computers and writing, his opinions are invalidated when he claims that writing is dying because computers are so easy to use.
Earlier in the book he even discusses how people in the past may have mocked pencil users because the inkwell and quill was seen as more sophisticated and concise compared to a pencil. And just a few pages later he says "but handwriting itself is far from dead." So why does he say so frankly that "penmanship is about to become a forgotten skill"? It's a strange statement to make and and when he contradicts himself it's hard to take it seriously. I'm curious to see more elaboration in the second half of the book.
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