An Opportunity In his book,The Electronic Word, Richard Lanham offers us a more positive exploration of technology and its effects on culture and communication. He sees technological change as an opportunity that professional communicators must not pass up. Although Lanham discusses the problems of ownership of the text, devaluation of publication, and constant change, he does not think that they are enough to justify ignoring the computer. Lanham says that the ability to manipulate text, which is a functionality of the computer, is an advantage, not a disadvantage. According to Lanham, texts composed on a computer are more communal. This interconnectedness will ensure that we never read an outdated word. In addition, computers allow students greater access to texts.