'Handwriting a lost art'? Zoho's Rs 50,000 cr man's fear sparks fiery internet debate

Is handwriting on its last legs? That’s the question that lit up the internet after Zoho’s billionaire founder, Sridhar Vembu, shared his struggle with putting pen to paper. The tech boss, worth nearly Rs 50,000 crore, admitted that not only did he receive a handwritten note so illegible he couldn’t read it, but he himself finds it tough to write neatly. His remark that handwriting may soon become a “lost art” struck a chord — and a nerve — online.

I received a hand written note today, written in English - except that it was so illegible I had no idea what it said and I had to ask my friend to explain.

I too find it hard to write - the "pen on paper" form of write - while trying to be legible. I guess hand writing is going…

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) August 20, 2025

Internet reacts
While many agreed with Vembu, pointing out how rarely they write on paper anymore, others took the conversation a step further. Some users predicted that even the keyboard could become obsolete in the future. They imagined a world where thoughts are transmitted directly, uncompressed and at lightning speed, through brain-computer interfaces or ultra-advanced speech typing, making traditional writing skills redundant.

But not everyone was convinced by this futuristic vision. A wave of responses came from people fiercely defending the act of writing by hand. Some shared how they still use blue gel pens and blank sheets, enjoying the clarity of switching between Roman and Devanagari scripts. Others insisted they couldn’t learn or remember things without writing them down, arguing that while tools may change — from notebooks to iPads — the practice of writing itself would endure.

Some users admitted that while handwriting has become rare, they still make a conscious effort to use pen and paper, calling it an art form worth preserving. Others shared that despite the convenience of typing, they continue to jot down daily notes by hand because it helps them process information better. A few even reflected on how the shift to keyboards and touchscreens has affected memory, recalling a time when they could easily remember dozens of phone numbers simply because they wrote them down.




Many suggested simply uploading a photo of the handwritten note to an LLM, which they claimed can decode it with up to 95% accuracy.