Obsolescence in/of Digital Writing Studies

This essay examines the impact that planned obsolescence of digital writing technologies has on the teaching and study of writing. Through analysis of how hardware and software design decisions shape digital product life cycle, I demonstrate that rapid obsolescence of writing tools threatens to obsolesce research and pedagogy in writing studies. I argue therefore that obsolescence of composing technologies should be drawn into the purview of writing studies, and lay out a few possible avenues through which to apply critical pressure to rapid obsolescence. The essay suggests that because obsolescence is a market-based phenomenon, critiquing obsolescence allows literacy educators to resist the harnessing of literacy, communication, and pedagogy to market forces and exploitative corporate practices.