How long have we been sending messages?
What generation of writing letters are we even on?
It dawned on me just a second ago, what generation of writing letters are we in? Alright, I am going off on a bit of a limb here, but I had this thought, and now I am going to see if I can get a little more history to back up my thesis. I should also add this will be about any sort of portable message relaying device.
The ancient Egyptians invented a writing surface called papyrus sometime in the third millennium B.C. The best tool for writing on papyrus — which is much like a very textured paper (and even gave paper its name) — was a (#1)reed pen.
These pens were lengths of reed cut to a point on one end and slit to facilitate the movement of ink. Papyrus didn’t fold well because it became brittle as it dried, which is why early Western books were in the form of scrolls. In the East, where paper was available early on, a (#2)brush was used for writing. These brushes were thick but tapered to a fine point.
Papyrus was used in Europe, too, but there was such a demand for writing materials that the supply of papyrus reeds began to run out, so another material was sought. This was called parchment or vellum. It was actually in use as early as the third century B.C., Parchment used a
metal-tipped bone stylus. Or a thin piece of lead called a (#3)plummet (an ancestor of the pencil) to mark out faint guidelines, then wrote using various types of pens, including reed pens, and pens cut from the flight feathers of large birds, called (#4)quill pens.
Early (#5)metal nibs were durable and did not have to be sharpened like a quill pen.
The invention of a (#6)pen with a reservoir that would last for many, many words was a big deal in 1702.
Though most (#7)pencils were graphite in wood, what we call the mechanical pencil was developed surprisingly early. Invented in 1822. The initial invention of the (#8)ballpoint pen in 1888, but it was not widely used until an ink of the right consistency was finally developed in 1938. Now the (9)computer, (10)phones, cell phones and data driven messaging systems rule the vast majority of communication. However, the art of how you properly compose certain things is still very relevant isn’t it? Wether is an email or a letter or even a conversation there is a proper form of sending someone else a message My main wonder is if in 2500 years is how long we have taken to graduate in our succession of writing instruments to get to where we are at now. On the nineth maybe we will call it tenth with the advancement in the data driven messages over the past 10 years. Where is AI going to be able to advance the portable messaging system to?
This is from another post I had made on packback I just thought itwould be a cool thing to add to my blog.
https://app.packback.co/questions/2c6f7c92-2a5f-43d9-8130-065d360c71b4?section=209cb8dd-2f0f-4f6d-8e84-e0263eb5a2e0
Source: https://www.brighthubeducation.com/history-homework-help/123138-stylus-quill-and-pen-short-history-on-writing-instruments/#google_vignette
