Computers are amazing. In particular, Word documents enable us to write faster, delete things quickly, and cut, copy, and paste. The regular old pencil-and-paper method is being used less and less.

My question is: Will it become obsolete?

When you really think about it, there are so many amazing things that we can do. Even as I’m typing now, I can rearrange my sentences, I can look up synonyms and definitions, and if I wanted, I could even print multiple copies of any of the documents saved to this computer.

Any of these functions would be impossible (or close to it) with a writing utensil and paper.

However, there are many problems with Microsoft Word. There are always the annoying zigzagged red and green lines. Usually, these are helpful to make sure I haven’t made a stupid mistake, but there are many times when I mistype a word like “off” or “with.” The computer can’t catch my mistakes because “of” and “wit” are words, too.

Then, making an outline for a paper is always a frustrating experience. The bullets never go the way I want them to, and I end up focusing more on them than the quality of my actual work.

That just sounds like I need to learn how to use Word better, doesn’t it? But shouldn’t it be easy to use? If my great-aunt Bertha-May-Esther-Pearl can’t even figure out how to turn a computer on, how is she supposed to use e-mail or upload pictures from the digital camera my great-uncle Seymour-Leonard-Eugene-Francis gave her for her 97th birthday?

Of course, technology is always changing, so I still think it’s possible that we may not be using pencils much in the future. Maybe sooner than later, I’ll be able to complete an outline with minimum stress-related hair loss. Maybe Microsoft Word will even become analytical enough to make the little paper clip pop up saying, “It looks like you’re making up family members with ridiculous names. Need some help?”