Without this constant reference to speech, writing, particularly the printed word, appears inhuman, incapable of defending itself or responding in the natural give and take of conversations.
Human speech is much more complex and ephemeral.
The supportive nature of epistemic conversations is elusive in a world full of corporate icons and techno-speak bulletin boards. The shift from conversation to writing represents a profound cognitive shift from reference to sign. Writing spatializes the word and makes it possible to sequentially process the word for instantaneous retrieval. But the kind of community and knowledge that Socrates was interested in required both knowledge in the mind and the mind in the community. Community is, in a sense, a set of repetitive activities.