A New Technology

A new technology tends to be used in the same way as the traditional technology it supersedes. For many years during the twenties and thirties, movies were vaudeville and stage shows on a big screen. The earliest computer assisted language learning packages were little more than textbooks on a small screen.

At present, electronic dictionaries are still fundamentally paper dictionaries on a microchip. They have certain unique functions, such as error tolerant input, cross-referencing (e.g. synonyms and antonyms), and word and spelling games, and they are probably faster to use. On the other hand, some people simply prefer the feel and legibility of paper. LCD can be hard to read in some lighting conditions, and it takes time to learn to use the functions of an ED.