Writing is a technology that transcribes the sounds of speech

Like recording, writing takes the sound of speech and transcribes it into forms that have a reach across time and distance. It is an outstanding technology¹.

Speech and writing are both used to share thought between people. They are functionally equivalent in that sense.

This concisely bridges the gap between Conversational technology saying we are always in conversation to get things done. I’ve known writing to be part of this yet don’t have the wood to explain exactly why.

Footnotes

1. Metcalf (2024), Writing the Mind Alive, chapter 1. ↩