Editor's Soapbox: Spellcheck is not a Joke

It was 6th grade, and I had just proudly placed third in my school’s spelling bee. That moment probably represented the peak of my spelling ability. With today’s technological advances, I no longer feel the need to remember the trivial, irrelevant spelling of every word in my lexicon.

As times changed and typing assignments on computers became the norm, I eventually stopped caring about spelling. Why do I need to know the exact order of the letters of each and every word when I can just sound it out and then right-click to replace my butchered spelling?

I’ve expected this technological safeguard to catch my mistakes since I was a middle schooler. Sure, teachers tried to make me learn to spell, but I didn’t want to waste precious brain space on an outdated skill envied only by boomers. I’m now in my last semester of college, so clearly my terrible spelling hasn’t stood in the way of achieving an education. However, the issue persists in my daily life.

Somehow, Google, one of the most influential companies in the world, doesn’t have a spellcheck feature. Google Drive has essentially become necessary to complete work for school. It is the only convenient platform that can accommodate multiple users working on the same document at the same time. While Google Drive has made group projects a lot easier, it still hasn’t created a functional spellcheck.

Google has built smartphones, mapped our world, and built up a worth of nearly 1 trillion dollars. It’s about time they make spelling simple for everyone. I’m ready for a change that conforms to the current standard. Microsoft has had spell check for over 10 years, so why can’t Google do the same? To quote the legendary sports analyst Stephen A. Smith, “We have been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok, and flat out deceived!”

I have heard claims that using various browsers, opening up Microsoft Word, or downloading browser add-ons could cure my spelling woes, but I have yet to find anything that works. Reach out to me at ExponentSports@montana.edu if you have any solutions, but for now the problem persists.

I’m out here speaking for the common folk. The terrible spellers of the world need not be judged for their illiteracy, and I’m here to lead the charge!