I was one of the typewriter users back in the day. I would get anxious when I made a mistake on the typewriter. I remember making mental notes of all the errors I had to go in with whiteout and fix. Then I remember getting the advanced typewriter with the digital screen and correction tape. I would get excited when I got a new set of correction tape to use. The evolution of technology has pushed us far beyond those days. The use of technology allows us to be faster with word processing, faster with a layout, and more organized printing.
Faster Word Processing
The old days of using correction tape and then typing over a word are over. what used to be a five-second correction process not takes a fraction of a second to backspace and fix a typing error. What’s more is no matter where the error is in the document you can find it in no time and move your cursor to that area and make the correction. You don’t have to worry about adding anything to the computer. The software does everything for you. We can highlight, make bullet points with tab memorization, and even create rules for our word processor to follow. Another advantage we have today is being able to see the whole document when it’s time for a document review.
Faster Layout
Designing newspapers, flyers, and magazines are so easy now that anyone can do it. All it takes is the right type of software. You can purchase something off of the shelf that will ask you if you are preparing a newsletter and it will assign the text boxes to the document for you. It will even suggest where to place a photo. Today we have the ability to make headings with larger type, we can make text run sideways and in slants. Layout and design possibilities with text are endless now.
Organized Printing
Another benefit we got from technology is the ability to print and keep things in order. Using the typewriter you had to stack your documents carefully, and if there was anything out of place you relied on your page numbers. We still number our pages today, but the printer is already issuing a set of pages in the direct order. You can even print on both sides without taking the paper out and turning it around. There are commercial printers that can staple the pages for you if you are creating pamphlets. Your documents can also be printed in various colors at a time with no ribbon changes.
Technology has advanced the way we deal with numbers letters and symbols. The way we convey a thought on a sheet of paper can be seen directly on a monitor. We don’t have to print anything until we are fully happy with what we have. This saves lots of paper, time, and energy. Technology has made word processing faster, layout faster, and printing more organized.