Later on, the demands rose. Information was supposed to be preserved and passed on in a simple manner. By this point the old system of relaying via word-of-mouth seemed to have reached its limits. Something new and completely revolutionary was called for: writing was born.

 

Ever since the sedate times back in ancient Mesopotamia, writing has had an unparalleled career to speak of. It is in attendance when kings are enthroned, it seals war and peace, and it’s the basis of modern science. It was sent into outer space and transforms our planet Earth from a terra incognita into a terra cognita.

It is always on hand when history is ‘written’, in the truest sense of the word.

 

Writing, an incontrovertible institution – one ought to presume. Yet last October a change was set in motion. To be honest, a change of the quiet sort with little fanfare. The iPhone 4S attained market maturity, and with it “Siri” – a software for intelligent voice recognition. Currently still limited to a few more or less useful applications, the future of voice control is clear: as an easy-to-use and intuitive interface between man and machine – in any conceivable way, shape or form. Initial advancements as a control for televisions were recently shown at the CES. But the spectrum for potential use seems large. Whether for automated vending machines, for electronic shopping, or in work applications for machinery: In future, the page-by-page studying of manuals and operating instructions is going to truly be a thing of the past. If you don’t understand something, you just ask the unit.

 

And so the wheel turns full circle: In the beginning there was the word, and in the aftermath of the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, following letterpress printing and the Age of Enlightenment, there it is again. Once again we’ve reached the stage of a convivial chat with whomever’s facing us, even though it’s a machine, not a hunter draped in bearskin. Yet sooner or later we’re going to think: Something new and completely revolutionary is called for…

 

And while Siri and its fellow expedients resound about me, I’ll believe that I see a flash of bearskin popping up here and there, that I recognise a club in someone’s bag, and... doesn’t that smell like a cave fire?