Word reliance & nostalgia

I've just finished reading all your posts from this week's Discussion Board forums and out of everything one thing really struck me. Someone, (no names don't worry!) wrote, and I'm ad-libbing here, that programs such as Word were fantastic because students didn't need to worry about their spelling and punctuation because the computer essentially did it for you. I absolutely, positively cringe whenever I hear this. I love technology, it's my job, it's something I take more than a passing interest in. But to hear that kind of reliance on a software program just grates me. The number of papers I read and grade where students have obviously relied totally on Word to correct it, only for Word to put in the incorrect spelling of the word, i.e. hear instead of here, is astonishing. You absolutely cannot think that a software program is any kind of substitute for proper and correct spelling and grammar. Yes, a program such as Word is helpful and does allow you to catch mistakes that you might not otherwise, but you know what, learn to proofread! Learn how to spell properly, learn where your correct punctuation goes. Learn to read through a paper when it's finished and you, the student, to catch the mistakes. 

Okay rant over. 

On a less school-mistressy note, this article made me smile particularly because just the other day my husband and I were playing Pac Man and I was commenting on how I didn't grow up on video games, (poor, deprived Boarding school child that I was) which led to a nostalgic discussion on all the other games he remembers...Space Invaders, Galaga, etc. There is something to be said about old school technology.