Sight reading will get him to read his first book more quickly, but phonics will allow him to become more literate in the long run. Technology is causing us to revisit a similar issue, is it better to learn computer programming, or just to know the right buttons to push to get the job done. This of course led to a less creative instrument, but one which the less literate could use. We should not allow technologies, with their rigid formats, stifle the advantages that a literate person has in our society. As Bruce and Hogan suggest these new literacies should only be used as additional ways to communicate, liberate, and accomplish goals.
Care is needed to avoid creating a gap between the old literate and the new illitarte.
People will not only become literate in new forms but also constructors of their new literacies. Training people in today's strange conventions and constructs is not what it means to be literate. Is technology changing so quickly that only the licensed programmer can keep up.