October 19, 2007

Education by the Book

To the Editor:

Brock Read showcases an exchange between a teacher and a student that in fact demonstrates the neglected virtues of old technology ("Marginally Better: Software Uses Side Notes to Turn Books Into Discussions," The Chronicle, September 28).

We are informed that the gist of the student's marginal question about Dante's Inferno is: "Why does a work so obsessed with the afterlife make such infrequent use of words like 'God' and 'Lord'?" And we are told that the