Writing is just a way to record things on an external flat surface…it allows multiple people to refer to to your thinking and it sort of extends memory because you can refer later to something you wrote down. In fact, it can even help clarify your thinking to see it down on paper.
I seem to recall learning that early writing consisted of impressions on clay tablets and then, after that, papyrus. Papyrus was an improvement because it was thinner, easier to store, didn’t shatter, etc. Scrolls were an early innovation which allowed more information to be captured. (Of course, I am not a historian but this all seems pretty reasonable…)
(As an aside, in grad school, I had a professor who used a old overhead projector that had a spindle on the left and right side of the screen with a scroll of clear plastic on the left. He would write the information or create the visual and then, instead of erasing it for the next one, he would just turn the crank and it would roll up the plastic on the right hand spool and fresh plastic would advance from the spool on the left side. No, it wasn’t that long ago…um…but it was just at the beginning of the PC era and lot’s of people didn’t have one then.)
(As another aside, I recall reading somewhere that the earliest writing was actually for business purposes…to make trades, someone needed to invent the receipt and the record of the inventory…)
The innovation of the scroll probably allowed people to develop more complex thoughts both because it was easier to write on than a clay tablet and because they could continue on writing longer. Probably it promoted a more linear style of thinking…hyperlinks would have been a challenge.
After the scroll, we have the invention of paper which changed the game again. Paper is thinner and cheaper so more people could write more stuff. And, standard sizes made manufacturing easier but may have changed the way we think as well. Now, instead of a flow we had a series of pages. They could (and often were at first) viewed as simply a chopped-up scroll. Page breaks came when you ran out of paper and then the information just continued onto the next page.
But, today, the “page” is a metaphor used for all kinds of things, including web-based information which really doesn’t have to be either linear or chopped up. In our business, we often construct our deliverables using a page concept. We even use landscape layout whenever we can to make the pages portable across print, computer screen, and projected presentation platforms.
So what will be/is happening to the way we think? Where in the past scrolls gave us the opportunity to develop longer threads of linear thought, will all the hyperlinks and “mash-ups” help us improve at making connections between different ideas, different disciplines? Will the fact that the content is digital (and only one screen is visible at a time) possibly harm our ability to follow longer trains of logic?
What if we brought back the scroll, updated for the digital age? After all there is no limit to how far you can scroll down on a web page. (There probably is but I haven’t found it…I’m sure it can go a long way.) Scrolling horizontally creates a problem because it is harder for people to return back to the next line to continue reading, assuming it is text. So we probably shouldn’t scroll indefinitely horizontally.
But, one of the big assumed “no-no’s” of web design is having a page where the user has to scroll. Each screen should be sort of one idea, and then you click buttons to step through whatever the process or information is. If you hit a link and take a detour, you might never come back if you hit something more interesting that what you were doing previously. (So could this lead to even less focus and ability to concentrate?) For some research on the subject, check out some web design guidelines.
Of course, user understanding of how web pages work has evolved over time. Things that were unfamiliar to users five years ago have become natural for many users. People now get scrolling.
So, maybe the answer is to bring back the scroll. I dare you.

Can People Be Protected from Their Own Stupidity?
July 16th, 2010What are you going to do? People can’t drive with their smartphones so lawmakers make it illegal to drive while texting. And if you want to talk on the phone while driving, you have to have a “hands-free” device. People definitely shouldn’t drive while distracted…but plenty of other distractions are still legal. For one thing, eating while driving. In fact, in Chicago, where all these laws are in effect, I believe it is still legal to use your smartphone’s navigation program. If you’ve ever tried to use the iPhone Google Maps application while driving, you know that is easily as distracting as anything else that could be going on in that car. In fact, to use many “hands-free” phones, you sometimes have to resort to looking up and even punching in the number (e.g., if you can’t get the voice recognition to work) and that is no different than texting…except maybe that it takes place over a shorter period of time.
Of course some people have more ability to pay attention, and even to notice when something they are not focusing on is happening around them. I’m not talking about multitasking…I think some people might just pay more attention in general. This is the person that notices you are looking the other way and avoids running into you. Probably, we have to admit that some people are just smarter than others. But that doesn’t stop smartphone makers and programmers from trying to make up the gap with engineering.
I recently read an article about a new wave of smartphones and related applications being designed to make it easier and safer for pedestrians to use their smartphones while walking! Apparently, record numbers of people are walking into manholes, into intersections, into signs, and whatever else because they are texting and not looking where they are going. In the article, one person managed to find a silver lining — because so many people have cellphones they can get an ambulance to the injured person more quickly. But the bulk of the attention was on how smartphone makers can improve the use of their devices to make them safer. For example, a transparent screen so you can see the sidewalk (and the person you are about to run into) through your text message. Or, “text to speech” (and vice versa) to avoid having to look at a screen and push buttons.
Maybe we need “heads-up displays” for smartphones so you can see the message in transparent letters on special goggles. Or, maybe we should just make a helmet law for smartphone users. Or, maybe we should just make a helmet law for everyone all the time because you never know when a distracted texter is going to run into you.
That is actually the worst part of the whole thing. You can no longer feel that, by driving defensively, you are giving yourself the best likelihood of avoiding an accident because some knucklehead may still randomly just ram into you or walk out in front of your car because they aren’t paying attention. Accidents happen. Many, in retrospect could have been prevented. But accidents caused by not paying attention to what you are doing are completely preventable.
At some point, we just have to wake up and be more responsible. Pay attention. Remember that there are other people sharing the planet. Don’t do stupid stuff. At some point, I wonder if the more we try to protect people from themselves, the stupider we all get.
Posted in Pete's Comments | No Comments »