Cursive died when we got ballpoint pens, IMHO. I get the author found it easier to do cursive with a fountain/dip pen (I went through a phase where my college notes were also with those kinds of pens, because they were stylish _and_ fun to write with), but cursive quickly devolves into oblique scratches and loops when written at speed (or by doctors, cof cof).

I (and my kids, who are teens) independently adopted a fairly standardized “printed” style as soon as we could. Nothing like the amazingly ruler-straight stylish handwriting my father has (having gone through “trade school”, where readability was important, and being a jeweler/diamond cutter, where minutiae in control were appreciated), but at least our handwriting is legible.

It could always do with a little more practice, though, and I resort to handwriting when I _really_ want to remember things. Using keyboards (even at speed) might be very much a sign of the times, but memory and retention simply isn’t the same as the multiple associations you form when shaping out words with a pen.

Which is why I still wish we had proper digital notebooks and insist on using Apple’s Scribble whenever feasible — even if it’s frustrating, the interstitial thoughs you work through as you write really help with memory (and writing style).