On 7 Nov 2012 at 5:10, mmasibidisetaka@xxxxxxxxx wrote: > This is a very interesting debate I must say, however the first thing > that we need to establish is a dictionary culture which I believe is > not strong enough (especially in South Africa)before we could > celebrate the end of print dictionaries and the beginning of a new era > of online dictionaries. Secondly we need to consider the dynamics of > the widening gap between those who have and those who don't, because a > very small percentage of people have access to computers. Hmm, a little perspective here perhaps: Smartphones *are* computers, and the *cheapest* smartphone is a FAR more powerful computer than the computer I first learned to program on. I recently took an R80/month contract here (approx $10/month), and for that I have a portable computer/cellphone in hand that compares as follows to the computer I learned to program on: - 832MHz process vs 2 MHz processor - Size:portable vs Size: Large heavy desktop - Screen: 240x320 256K colors vs screen: 320x200 16 colors - Internet vs: No Internet - Advanced HTML5 Web browser with built-in JavaScript programming language, vs: No Web browser - 3GB storage vs: 20MB storage - Built-in camera vs: No built-in camera Yes, the poorest can't afford R80/month, but surely even someone of relatively modest income could afford that? Also, we're only at the start of the smartphone trend, they are still dramatically falling in price and becoming more commonplace/popular (the main impediment is probably the mess that is the patent system), so I must admit I don't think the depiction of the majority lacking access is entirely fair, at least regarding South Africa, Internet coverage via the mobile networks reaches over 90% of the population already, and with several new African under-ocean fiber cable projects and massive investments in terrestrial bandwidth infrastructure prices are still falling ... imagine what it will be like in just another 10 years. (Regarding the gap between haves and have-nots, global income inequality has also actually been improving more or less consistently for about five decades now, even though it might not always feel like it and is 'contrary to popular belief'.) That said, I hope paper dictionaries never go away entirely. I find myself approaching this question from the perspective of a new parent, asking myself 'would I prefer my child[ren] growing up in a household with paper dictionaries around', and the answer is an absolute 'yes' ... I remember also as a child enjoying just browsing through dictionaries just for interest, and while you could possibly replicate this to some extent in software, I'm not sure you can ever do so entirely. But, this may also be partially nostalgia, and today's generation grow up in an environment of 'continual technological distraction' so they might not find dictionary-browsing as interesting. Also, myself, I rarely consult paper dictionaries nowadays, and if so, it's usually for dictionaries that I don't have in online/electronic format. - David * To post to the ASIALEX Mailing List, send an e-mail to asialex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx * To unsubscribe from the ASIALEX Mailing List, go to //www.freelists.org/list/asialex, enter your e-mail address in the "User Options" box, choose the Unsubscribe option in the "Choose an action" dropdown list, and press "Go!"