Opus 2025-480: Did You Notice?

Have you noticed yet the small changes that have been made in the dynamics of written English?  I am sure there are more than I see but let me list a couple.  

It used to be that you were expected to put two spaces after a period and after a colon.  You were also supposed to capitalize the first word after the colon.  One reason I noticed this was at some point my word processing software made the change which had it “correcting” my typing.  I had to dig into the inner workings to change the setting.  

Why the changes?  The basic reason is to save space on the computer disk.  Everything you type is recorded in 0's and 1's.  Even a single space takes up room.  Over a long document that can add up.  They totally overlook the fact that they were originally double spaced to make communication easier.  It alerted the reader that a new thought was beginning.  We live in a day when saving space on a disc is more important than clarity in writing.

You can make your own decision on the bigger reason for the change.  I would say it is a both/and situation.  It saved the technology people money and it gave them more control over the population by increasing ignorance.  It was a twofer.  

homo unius libri