From 9/29/1994, another .doc file. Likely written for an English class. Me, commenting on Wendell Berry's 1987 article “Why I Am Not Going To Buy A Computer.”

The Computer Is Mightier Than The Typewriter

In “Why I Am Not going to buy a computer” Wendell Berry argues his various reasons for not buying a computer. His reasons in a nutshell are: 1. He doesn’t want to be dependent on strip mined coal. 2. He does not admire computer manufacturers. 3. Computers cost money. 4. No wish to fool self. 5. Technology should conform to his list of standards for technology.
I will dissect Berry’s arguments against buying a computer and show how they are irrational and self conflicting. I will then refute point by point all of Berry’s reasons for not buying a computer.
Point one: Berry does not want to be dependent upon strip mined-coal. I contend Berry is already is dependent upon “strip mined coal”, even if he does not realize it. Berry admits that he has electricity in his home (for lightbulbs at least). All that paper Berry uses in the continual retyping of his writings is made in a pulp mill that uses electricity to make paper. His clothing, food, and any manufactured goods Berry owns are all indirectly produced by electricity, either by means of incandescent lighting in factories, computers in pulp mills or the processing of the gasoline in the tank of a truck with a shipment of paper on board. This reluctance to use electricity directly from the power grid is no less a “Rape of the earth” (as Berry calls it) than using any modern good. Berry must believe if it’s out of sight it’s out of mind.
Point two: Admiration of computer manufactures has no bearing upon the usefulness of computers. A computer is a tool, not a statement of love. By Berry’s logic he must admire typewriter manufacturers as he so proudly states his 1956 Royal Standard Typewriter has served him so well for so many years. To continue the analogy; Berry must admire pulp and paper mills as he is constantly buying paper for his typewriter. A computer is useful. Just as useful as typewriters and paper, they are not proclamations of love to their manufacturers. Berry writes ”I do not see that computers are bringing us one step nearer to anything that does matter to me: peace, economic justice, ecological health, political honesty, family and community stability, good work.” Even if a computer does not directly bring you to any of those worthwhile goals it is unrealistic to believe any tool could do all these things. I don’t expect world peace from a rototiller. Does Berry believe his typewriter brought these ideals to the earth? Berry should realize that tools are designed to make goals easier, not solve the problems of humanity outright.
Point three: Computers cost money. I don’t know where Berry has been for the last 3000 years but money is not something new. Money is required to purchase things in a modern economy. It might not be right but it is a fact. Perhaps if Berry whines about how much everything costs he could get someone to give him an older model for free.
Point four: Berry’s “final and perhaps best reason” for not buying a computer is he doesn’t want to fool himself into thinking he could write any better or more easily on a computer. Berry argues that when somebody writes better than Dante on a computer that he will speak of them (computers) in a more respectful tone but still would not buy one. I’m sorry to tell you this Berry but Dante didn’t use your beloved typewriter it was before his time Shakespeare didn’t use a typewriter either. These great writers used the pen. Quality of writing is not improved by the use of computer, only the amount of time writing, rewriting, and rewriting. If Shakespeare had used a computer I doubt if his plays would be better written, but I bet you he would have had time to write several more in the time it took him to make the many copies of his plays. This was Berry’s “...best reason for not owning a computer...”. He say’s even if a computer could improve his writing he “...still would not buy one” this demonstrates to me that Berry is concealing his real reasons for his hatred of the computer. This is undoubtedly the same irrational fear of innovation that gripped the Luddites in their hatred of machines during industrial revolution ‘Sure they can weave cotton faster than us but they are evil I tell you! Evil!’.
Berry sets forth these standards for technology as he sees it to better clarify his position of why he doesn’t need a computer:
1. The new tool should be cheaper than the one it replaces.
2. It should be as least as small as the one it replaces.
3. It should do work that is clearly and demonstrably better than the one it replaces.
4. It should use less energy than the one it replaces.
5. If possible it should use some form of solar energy such as that of the body.
6. It should be reparable by a person of ordinary intelligence provided that he or she has the necessary tools.
7. It should be purchasable and repairable as near to the home as possible.
8. It should come from a small privately owned shop that it will take it back for maintenance and repair.
9. It should not disrupt anything good that already exists and this includes family and community relationships.

I contend that the computer has met all of the previous list’s requirements I have re-written the list below with an annotation of how a computer conforms after each point:
1. The new tool should be cheaper than the one it replaces. Computers are getting cheaper all the time the last computer I bought was cheaper than the one before. Computers are cheaper than typewriters as well because the continual mistakes made on typewriters require much more paper than computers.
2. It should be as least as small as the one it replaces. Computers are getting smaller and smaller. Some are larger than typewriters however a computer can do many things a typewriter cannot. If Berry insists on following his rules strictly a laptop computer is smaller than a typewriter.
3. It should do work that is clearly and demonstrably better than the one it replaces. When using a computer the sentences will remain the same, but the fonts will be variable and there will be fewer spelling mistakes. A computer can also hold a document in memory for decades without having to store it on paper.
4. It should use less energy than the one it replaces. Computers use electricity no doubt about it. However, electric typewriters do as well however if you account for the increased energy it takes for a person to type over an over the same lines. This is a cost of human energy, spent in an act of typing.
5. If possible it should use some form of solar energy such as that of the body. Berry must have lived on another planet for a while. I have yet to meet anyone (on earth) who runs on solar energy I was under the impression that people used chemical energy from food. Even so I know of households that use windmills and solar panels to power their computers and other modern conveniences on Lasqueti Island.
6. It should be reparable by a person of ordinary intelligence provided that he or she has the necessary tools. Contrary to common belief computer users are no smarter than the ordinary person and neither are its repairpersons.
7. It should be purchasable and repairable as near to the home as possible. Computers rarely need repairs of the type Berry is referring to as computers have almost no moving parts that can break down. However repairs that need to be made can usually be done with a Philips screwdriver and a telephone.
8. It should come from a small privately owned shop that it will take it back for maintenance and repair. I’m sure this could be arranged.
9. It should not disrupt anything good that already exists and this includes family and community relationships. It would allow you more free time for family and computer.
Computers are useful for writing. People who write should use computers. In the years since my birth computers have come from giant mainframes in a handful of universities and big businesses to the microcomputers that have revolutionized the modern world. Computers are like any other tool, useful when used properly perhaps Berry does not realize that a computer is just a glorified typewriter. A pen is to printing press as a typewriter is to a computer. Back in the good old days before the printing press, all writing had to be done by hand over and over and over again.
It is obvious from his writing that Berry had already convinced himself that he didn’t need a computer before he wrote his essay. It is too easy to be self righteous in your beliefs but any time spent in reality says one must attain a certain standard of living before a look at the global picture is managed.
Berry’s dislike for computers reminds me of the stories like “in my day we had to walk 6 miles to school in 10 feet of snow” that is a very nice story but there is little moral highground in unnecessary and laborious work. When did hardship and pain become things we value? Is there any evil in getting a ride to school on a snowy day.