Do you still write by hand?

Yesterday I did?an interview with a podcast host who is at the heart of the language services industry--machine translation, localization, language automation.?

As we talked about?my plans for?Endangered Alphabets Calligraphy, he acknowledged that he himself writes by hand, and he's teaching his children to write by hand, but his entire industry is moving toward the digital tools that will make not only handwriting a thing of the past but, with AI, will make the act of? writing itself obsolete.

His ebullient mood became?suddenly very thoughtful. "We're really talking about the future of writing," he said. "And I really don't know what it will be. It could go either way."

This is the question I want to raise in my book-hopefully-to-be Endangered Alphabets Calligraphy, and I'm the only person in the world working to raise it: that in defining writing as a chore, and in our rush to make it easier for ourselves, we are in imminent danger of throwing away one of humankind's greatest inventions.

And by showing the beautiful calligraphy of far less privileged?communities elsewhere, I hope to show that they have something to teach us: that handwriting is?not a technology but an art that expresses who we are, that demands thought and effort, and rewards us by offering?meaning and value, even beauty, to those who read it.??

That's the elevator pitch: watch the video on my Kickstarter page to get the five-minute version.

Please back my campaign. We still need to raise another $10,000 in seven days.?

Please look for ways to start this conversation with people you know: colleagues, family, friends. This book is important, but the issue is even more important., and you may be the only person you know who even realizes it.

Thanks.

Tim

P.S. By all means join our conversation on Sunday to ask questions about this, or bring up observations of your own. The free registration link is at?https://www.endangeredalphabets.com/2024/10/08/the-art-of-writing-an-online-conversation/?