The Pocket PC: Let The Serious Writing Begin!

It occurred to me since my last blog post that I may still not have made my case that the Pocket PC is useful for writers. In order to prove that the Pocket PC is useful for writers, it would have to be either an electronic writing space or an electronic writing tool. In order to see if it would fit these descriptions, it is important to define both terms.

What is an electronic writing space? I, personally, would define it in the following way: An electronic writing space is where a writer chooses to write. It is the place within which a writer decides to express their views, beliefs, or the art of their writing. Some examples of writing spaces would be: a magazine article, a book, a website, a newspaper article, etc. It should be noted that for the people reading these mediums, they are not writing spaces, but reading spaces. They are only writing spaces for the writer who is publishing within them.

I did some research on this topic, and the leading authority on the term "electronic writing space" seems to be Jay David Bolter, author of Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. In his book, Bolter literally defines writing space as "the physical and visual field defined by a particular technology of writing" (from Michael Schumate of Duke University, 1996; www.duke.edu/~mshumate/fiction/htt/space.html). He defines electronic space conceptually as something that is "characterized by fluidity and is an interactive relationship between writer and reader." Electronic writing space is also defined metaphorically. According to Bolter, "In the act of writing, the writer externalizes his or her thoughts. The writer enters into a reflective and reflexive relationship with the written page, a relationship in which thoughts are bodied forth. It becomes difficult to say where thinking ends and writing begins, where the mind ends and the writing space begins. With any technique of writing--on stone or clay, papyrus or paper, and particularly on the computer screen--the writer comes to regard the mind itself as a writing space. The writing space becomes a metaphor, in fact literate culture's root metaphor, for the human mind."

The Computer screen fits these criteria as a writing space. It is clear that Bolter agrees with this because he classifies it as a writing space in the third and final quote where writing space is defined metaphorically. If the computer is considered to be a writing space, then the Pocket PC by default is a writing space because it is basically a handheld version of the desktop computer. It does virtually everything that a desktop computer would do.

The Pocket PC is not just a writing space, but it is also a writing tool. Defining the term "electronic writing tool" is much more difficult than defining the term "electronic writing space". I would define a writing tool as anything that aids in the writing process. This includes all stages of the writing process, and of course there are a huge number of different things that could be considered writing tools under that definition. Some examples could be: a website that helps a writer prewrite, a computer program that allows a writer to type their work, a pencil, and anything that aids the writer in publishing their work.

I searched but was never able to obtain a specific definition or to find an authority on the term "electronic writing tool." Instead I looked for a logically justified definition. The term tool can have several meanings. A tool can be "a device ... used to perform or facilitate manual or mechanical work", or "something regarded as necessary to the carrying out of one's occupation or profession." It is also defined as "something used in the performance of an operation; an instrument", and in relation to Computer Science, it is defined as an application program, often one that creates, manipulates, modifies, or analyzes other programs." The term tool as we have used it in class seems to relate more to a tool as "something regarded as necessary to the carrying out of one's occupation or profession" because we are referring to something useful to the writing profession or individuals that are writers. A tool could be anything that is used in the writing process because writing, as professional writers refer to it, is more than just the act of putting pen to paper, but is rather the deeply involved process writers use to produce text. And, of course, electronic refers to something that is "of, implemented on, or controlled by a computer or computer network"(all terms defined using www.dictionary.com). Given these definitions, and the context of the term "electronic writing tool", I believe that my personal definition meets all these criteria.

The Pocket PC would definitely classify as a writing tool because it is useful at all stages of the writing process. In fact, I believe that the Pocket PC is indispensable to the serious writer. In my last blog post, I named some of the things that the Pocket PC can do, but there were actually more applications that I didn't mention. It is hard to name them all because the Pocket PC does so much. Of course, different versions of the PC will do different things. The PC and its applications that I will be referring to is the PPC-6700 from Sprint which contains the program Windows Mobile 5.0. This is my Pocket PC of choice and the one that I recommend. This PC is both a cellular phone (with all the regular features of a cellular phone including text messaging) and a Pocket PC.

Because the PPC-6700 has a wireless connection (with a Sprint vision plan), it allows for immediate connection to the Internet from anywhere there is a cellular phone signal. That means a writer would have access anytime to websites that help with writing like the one we used in my Advanced Composition class that allows a writer to map out ideas on the computer. It also has Microsoft Word and a writing pad that uses a stylist. These can be used to jot down important ideas at the time of inspiration. The web browser makes it a great tool for research and fact checking. The Pocket PC is more than just a great Prewriting tool. It is also useful in the Drafting stage. Because the Pocket PC is small, it is much easier to use for shorter compositions. There is, however, no boundary to keep a writer from composing longer texts. Texts that have been previously written can be downloaded to the machine as well. The easiest way to do this is through e-mail. E-mail can also be used to send copies of work to colleagues for peer review, or to respond to other colleagues work. The spell check and grammar check features of Microsoft Word allow for editing capabilities when looking at text. The Pocket PC also has features that could help in publishing. It cannot print out work, but it can be used to send work via e-mail to another computer so it can be printed out. It has Power Point for making presentations and a feature called "Remote Desktop." Remote Desktop allows the user to access their home computer from virtually anywhere. Basically, if the writer keeps their work stored on their home computer, it gives them access to their writing at any time.

The Pocket PC is both an "electronic writing space" and an "electronic writing tool" making it doubly useful to writers. I really recommend this device to those, like me, that consider writing to be an art. The Pocket PC allows writers to have the tools of expression at their fingertips at all times. It allows writers to carry their desktop computer in their back pocket at any time. It is definitely the tool that no serious writer should be without. In fact, they should change the slogan to "The Pocket PC: Let the serious writing begin."