How do you think our concept of literacy will change over the next few decades?

Question

*Note: I posted this question the other day over in another category, but didn't get the scope of answers that I had hoped for. So I'm re-posting it*

Earlier this spring I was reading the magazine "The Futurist." It was their new year edition wherein they gather various articles and columns written throughout the year that address possible future trends, throughout society, technology, etc....

One of the items that caught my attention was a prediction that said that the concept of literacy that we hold today will hardly be recognizable in the next 50 years.

The basic idea ran that we'll eventually turn nearly entirely to video (and audio to a lesser extent) as a way of communication and entertainment and education. But also, that with the advent of Internet-slang, its abbreviations and the acceptance of similar trends on daily communication (such as forums, here and otherwise).

I'm just curious of everyone's opinion on how much our concept of literacy will change in the near future

Answer 1

I think it will come a whole lot faster than 50 years!

I've seen several posts on this site alone that are barely readable due to all the misspelled words, abbreviated words, Internet slang, and text slang.  Combine that with the availability of grammar check and spell check fixing all of our mistakes coupled with the increased use of equipment that can take spoken words and automatically type them into a Word document (and vice versa) and we won't need to be able to read/write for very much longer.