When will the computer finally be accepted as a legitimate tool and not seen as a way to cheat? I can’t count the times I’ve been reprimanded for creating graphic designs with the pc, professors claiming “it must be done by hand or the computer will do all the work for you.” What? I’m not sure what machines will let you recline on the sofa and eat twinkies while your homework is “magically” created for you, but I don’t have one. Thumbnails, sketches, and the beginning stages of project planning, yes, I agree, should be done by hand. But final compositions having to be done in sharpie and expected to be as precise as the printer equals a whole lot of wasted time. The idea is there, it’s mine, I thought of it, so what’s the difference if it is rendered by pen or mouse? If the computer is somehow taking ownership of the pieces I personally imagined then perhaps the marker should banned as well, another tool “doing the work for me.”
(Shhh, don’t tell anyone, but I write essays in Word, not by hand. Tisk, tisk.)