Yesterday I was chatting with a friend and mentioned how much the internet has speeded up composing pieces. Just now, for example, I am going to write about music and was trying to remember the name of the guitarist on The Grand Old Opry I like so much…. Roy, Roy, Roy … Acuff? No. Ernest Tubbs? No. I could have pulled a couple of books on American music off my shelf which, I know, would have had his name, but instead I googled The Grand Old Opry and found…. Roy Clark (the ‘Roy’ was blocking me, shunting my brain off to Acuff, another outstanding Country musician).
So this has enabled the blogosphere, from spelling to fact-checking to translating foreign words to searching Thesaurus-style for a word.