Chinese characters in relation to literacy and the digital age

[Moshen]

Here is a quote from the book "Orality and Literacy" by Walter Ong, published in 1982:

 

Quote

There can be no doubt that [Chinese] characters will be replaced by the roman alphabet as soon as all the people in the People's Republic of China master the same Chinese language ('dialect'), the Mandarin now being taught everywhere.

 

1982 was the bare beginning of the digital age, with personal computers not coming into semi-wide use until several years after that - not to mention it being before the Internet.  (I got my first PC in 1984.)  How interesting that the digital age seems to have made it less and less likely that Chinese characters would be given up in favor of the roman alphabet in China.

 

Your thoughts on this?

[winterpromise31]

I, for one, hope they never drop characters in favor of the roman alphabet. I really, really struggle reading pinyin. Characters are so much easier!

[889]

DeFrancis's 2006 essay on writing reform.

 

http://www.pinyin.info/readings/defrancis/chinese_writing_reform.html