Written communication serves separable purposes: * Replicating speech, Archiving speech, and separating the acts of speaking and listening from each other. The

Written communication serves separable purposes: * Replicating speech, Archiving speech, and separating the acts of speaking and listening from each other. There are alternatives to written format. * Speech that can be edited easily, until it is perfected. * Speech that be sped up, slowed down, and jumped around with random access and search. * Silent speech. These features can be achieved with alternative technologies. Written communication also has drawbacks. It is a lossy compression of spoken speech.