Does the iClay Do More Harm Than Good?

Babylon – Ever since the introduction of clay tablets, researchers and parents have been divided with respect to how these affect children. “Once my child gets that stylus in his hand, it’s hard to pry it loose” says NeboShazzar, a concerned parent.
“Before the introduction of the clay tablet,” says Dr. Belhazanshashbad head of the Sumerian College of Health Sciences, “teenagers routinely memorized whole epics. Now we’re lucky to find a teenager who can remember literature of 200,000 or 250,000 words. This is truly deplorable.”
Clay tablets mean people no longer have to memorize information. A permanent record can be kept. Researchers fear this will cause senility in children since they no longer have to worry about transmitting and receiving large amounts of knowledge orally. Researchers at the Hammurabi Institute of Astrology report a 35% reduction in verbal communication skills in children exposed to the iClay from an early age.
Others, however, say that the iClay represents a change in communication which in turn means that old skills are no longer required, but that new skills are emerging. Stephanos Iobsarakis, the Ionian businessman responsible for introducing the iClay to the city, counters the “doom and gloomers” as he calls them, by saying that children are exposed to much more knowledge than they were before. “Before the iClay,” says Iobsarakis, “children could only learn from sages and teachers who taught them directly. The poor and unlucky had no access to such persons. Thanks to the iClay, they no longer need such access. Sages and teachers can write down their knowledge and thereby allow thousands to benefit from it.”
There can be no doubt that the iClay has sparked a revolution in learning. Universities throughout Mesopotamia report that more and more students are bringing their tablets to class and jotting down what the professors tell them.
Clay tablets have many more advantages over potsherds, which up until now were the writing tools of choice. Potsherds are simply too small to convey much information, and most of the information contained in potsherds is fragmentary at best, says Iobsarakis. Clay tablets, on the other hand, can convey much more information and the size of the tablet makes that information much more readable.
Professor Elshazzar-Marduch, a lecturer at Babylon University enthusiastically supports Iobsarakis. “Fears that clay tablets will harm children are groundless,” says the professor. “The only danger the clay tablet poses is an older brother smashing the head of an annoying younger brother with it. And that is a parental concern. The clay tablet is the greatest innovation since sliced Ishtar cakes.”
Regardless of ones opinion about the merits or lack thereof of clay tablets, they are here to stay. Clay tablets have gained such market share that last week, the Potters Guild rioted amid rumors that Iobsarakis was about to outsource manufacturing to Canaan. More research is needed to determine the long term effects of clay tablets. For now, though, the iClay and its creator are on to something and with money flowing in, the iClay will only grow in popularity.