Letter Writing
| Field | Communication |
| Went Obsolete | Obsolescence progressing nicely, beginning 1977 |
| Made Obsolete By | Telephony; Computer-based printing; word processing templates |
| Knowledge Assumed | Ability to put strings of words together in grammatically correct fashion. Ability to to hold a pen or pencil for periods of time greater than 1 minute. |
| When useful | Letter writing was most useful when expressing feelings or sharing information with people who live out of easy walking distance from you. The advent of telephone service began the demise of letter writing, as "just calling" someone became easier than the work involved in writing a letter, in spite of the pleasure that re-reading a letter can provide after the telephone call is long forgotten. |
Word processing templates (also known as boilerplates) made it easier (more tempting) to clone rather than writing something original. (An essay is at http://www3.telus.net/vschmid/essays/boiler.htm(approve sites).) ||