The Baron/Ong Discussion

Not only writing, but all communicative devices seem, according to Denis Baron, to go through several stages of acceptance before finally being accepted as a common means of communication. As early as the pencil (and perhaps even before), there have been disputes over the way in which humans communicate. Plato spoke out against writing in general, saying that it would destroy our memories. Thoreau opposed any new forms of writing other than the pencil (although, ironically, his books have been published in print for nearly a century now - and were being published in print while he was alive). The telephone, too, was met with harsh opposition for it's lack of ability to provide any sort of written transcript of a conversation.
Thus, Baron seems to think that all new writing technologies must go through a necessary trial period, a period of harsh criticism, before being accepted into general usage. He concedes, of course, that since it takes time for technology to develop into an universally workable format, perhaps it is the inability for technology to initially conform to our needs that causes its lack of acceptance. Once the technology becomes more perfected, it is more easily accepted. Take the computer as an example. In the early days of digital, the computer was a very difficult machine to use, open only to a select group of professionals (namely, the military and some universities). Over the years, computer technology has evolved into a format that nearly everyone with a brain can understand and use. Monkeys even know how to use computers. Thus, the ease with which individuals can comprehend a technology seems to make it more readily acceptable.
This stage-movement from rejection to acceptance occurs with not only with direct-communication technologies, but I would argue, with every new technology. On some level, I think humans are designed to regard new technologies with a bit of skepticism. Take the camera, for instance. Though most would consider it an indispensable part of their lives today, in the early days of photography, the camera was met with much resistance. Native Americans, for instance, would not allow people to take their pictures, fearing the photograph of them would somehow take away part of their souls.
Walter Ong, in his book Literacy and Orality, seems to agree with Baron on several key points. It seems that when speaking about the evolution of modern language, it is nearly impossible to not agree with the rejection to acceptance thesis. Since both take somewhat of an historical approach to the interpretation of communication technologies, it would be difficult to disregard the controversies that have surrounded the introduction of different technologies.
And with today's ever changing world, we continue to see this tension between the old and new methods of communication. Web 2.0 and other digital methods are in the heat of controversy right now. Even the web itself is overrun with articles that say why the digitization of the world is a disastrous happening. How ironic.