Lamenting the past

During my school years, I had neat, legible handwriting, at least for a male. That started to change when I went to university. This was long before lecturers used PowerPoint, and consumers had access to affordable laptop computers. I took notes in lectures and tutorials by hand, and had to write them quickly so that I didn't miss any important information. I noticed that my handwriting greatly deteriorated as a result.

Before I bought a computer in early 1996, I even wrote my university essays by hand before typing them on an electric typewriter. I did this for three of my four years as an undergraduate student. Looking back now, I don't know how I managed. Then again, since I was pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree, it's not as though I had a very demanding workload.

Observers of such things have noted that since the proliferation of email, instant messaging, text messages, and chat people are using handwritten communication less often. Writing letters and sending greeting cards has dropped off sharply.

It is as though my brain has been rewired. I have to concentrate hard to write neatly in greeting cards, and my shopping lists. Somewhat self deprecatingly, I wonder if there's such a thing as remedial handwriting classes for adults. I also wonder if handwriting is dying out.