The lost art of handwriting

By now it's well-known: most kids can no longer write by hand, except in laboured capital letters.
The tragedy began long before the computer and the cellphone.
The crisis began with the advent of the ballpoint pen. Early ballpoints were also very messy and if, immediately after writing, you ran your finger over the last few words, a smudge inevitably appeared. And people no longer felt much interest in writing well, since handwriting, when produced with a ballpoint, even a clean one, no longer had soul, style or personality.

Umberto Eco, Guardian, 21/09/2009