2-16-09 Freewrite

One of the stages that literary technology goes through is an expansion of its user base. At first, new literary technologies are only used by a small group of "elites" that are usually more wealthy and able to afford new, more expensive technologies. Eventually, the technology becomes less expensive and less controversial and spreads to all those who are interested in using it. Baron also asserts that literary technology presents lots of opportunities for fraud. He believes that advances in literary technology can increase plagiarism amongst other things and can lessen the works of honest writers. I think these stages can be accurately applied to increased usage of the internet and mobile devices. Both have become more popular as their cost has decreased and they have become a huge part of mainstream society. Additionally, these technologies provide new frontiers for fraud.

I think that Ong would agree with Baron's stages of literary technology. He would agree that literary technologies, in their initial stages, are often not available to many people. He would also agree with Baron that new literary technologies will eventually cheapen and will become more of a mainstream part of society.

I think that Baron and Ong would believe that the use of web 2.0 and mobile technologies are another example of these literary stages. They would easily be able to see the new abilities that these technologies allow for those that want to commit fraudulent acts such as plagiarism, etc. Additionally, mobile technology, in particular, was very limited in its use during its initial stages. However, in today's world, almost everyone has a cell phone or pda and they are in almost constant use.