Communication Technology: A Stitch in Time, Part 3

       With writing and later the printed word, the passing on of knowledge and values became the primary task of words on a page, of what we typically think of as "text."  And the thread that runs through this era is weaving:  Latin texere--"to weave"; textus--"something woven."  And what are those words on a page but a "texture," a "tissue" (same root for both words), of ideas, of narrative?  The preserved text connects us with one another, and weaves our past into the tapestry of our future.

       ("Textiles" gives present day evidence of the root meaning of "text.")