Discussion of Bolter Ch 3-4
From WRIT-2510 Spring 2007 Wiki
Things to think about and guide your reading'
Think about the following quote, ". . .the World Wide Web offers us the experience of moving through a visual and conceptual space different from the space of the book, although this experience still depends on our intuitive understanding of that earlier writing space" (Bolter 45). What does Bolter mean by this, and can you extrapolate from this quote to talk briefly about our experiences of the WWW as a writing space?
What is the relationship between the verbal and the visual in multimedia texts? What is the difference between hyptertext, multimedia, and digital text? How does Bolter distinguish them?
What is revolutionary, if anything, about the concept of hypertext and hotlinks? How do these things, in Bolter's opinion, change the way we think about writing and the writing space?
What is Bolter's argument in each of these chapters? How do these arguments support or complicate the arguments he makes earlier in the text? Yes, this means you might have to go back to those initial chapters and figure out what exactly is he arguing in those chapters!
Things to Write About
Remember the issues we raised in our discussion of the first two chapters. How does Bolter expand and complicate our notions about the relationship between the written, the visual, and the verbal? How does your reading of Bolter complicate, interact with, or elaborate upon the readings you did last week concerning design elements? Remember that you should always choose a quote from the text to back up the claims that you are making. Also please do make sure that you cite the text properly with a page number and explain how the quote you've chosen backs up the claim you are making about it.
Remember this time group A is posting the initial responses by noon on Mon. January 29, and Group B is responding to their responses by 9 am on Tues. January 30. If you're not sure which group you're in, please check on the class homepage. You will also find the updated instructions of how to post to the wiki there (in case you've forgotton how to respond.) I look forward to our continued discussion.
[edit] testing response
[edit] Daniel Wong's Response
Bolter brings up an interesting topic that I have not seen from his perspective. Hypertext is a means to link digital text, thus creating an alternate methodology to organize ideas and thoughts. As opposed to the old way of organizing information linearly, hypertext provides a portal or set of almost infinite paths of information which to follow. "A hypertext is like a printed book that the author has attacked with a pair of scissors and cut into convenient verbal sizes." (Bolter, p.35) Hypertext has increased convenience and potential as a literary tool to ascertain information about a specific subject matter. "Where printed genres are linear or hierarchical, hypertext is multiple and associative. Where printed text is static, a hypertext responds to the reader's touch." (Bolter, p.42) Of course hypertext does not replace printed text altogether, but rather it uses it as a foundation and builds upon it. Without text and written word, hypertext could not exist. As Bolter had said "In short, electronic hypertext is not the end of print; it is instead the remediation of print." (Bolter, p.46)
In the WWW, images often dominate over the use of text and symbols. We are living in a visual culture and consequently would respond more to visual stimuli. There is the delicate task of integrating visual media into print to form a good and concise balance. As Bolter states “ The main point is that the relationship between word and image in becoming increasing unstable, and this instability is especially apparent in popular American magazines, newspapers, and various forms of graphic advertisements.” (Bolter, p. 49) The growing trend seems to be toward more visual aspects as opposed to textual or written aspects. Newspapers today have transformed and have changed to conform to this late age of print. “In graphic form and function, the newspaper is coming to resemble a computer screen, as the combination of text, images, and icons turns the newspaper page into a static snapshot of a World Wide Web page.” (Bolter, p.51) However, Bolter states several times, that there are other cases in which there are images present along with text, but do not stand out and overshadow the text. In these cases, the images simply are there to complete the overall picture, yet it is the text that communicates the true information. I think that Bolter presents a unique relationship between the written, visual and the verbal. At times, the relationship between the three seems contradictory and other times, supplementary. Bolter seems to make one statement and makes the exact count argument against such statement. I think that he is trying to allow the reader to decide.
[edit] Response to Daniel Wong's Response by Andrew La Padula
I agree with what Daniel has pointed out in that Bolter is stating hypertext is not replacing printed text all together at this time, rather it is remediating printed text. The fact that hypertext can be non-linear makes it work similarly to our minds. I found this point to be very interesting just as Daniel did. Bolter notes two people, Vannevar Bush and Ted Nelson, that argue this point. Bush writes, "...[t]he human mind...operates by association" while Nelson similarly states, "...[t]he structure of ideas is never sequential; and indeed, our thought processes are not very sequential either. True, only a few thoughts at a time pass across the central screen of the mind; but as you consider a thing, your thoughts criss-cross constantly, reviewing first one connection, then another" (Bolter 42). I would have to agree with their claims and say that hypertext, which is associative, is more natural than printed text, which is linear. The World Wide Web gives us access to a near infinite amount of interconnected pages which we can look at and read in any order we want, much like how our brains work.
Elaborating a little on what Daniel stated, Bolter shows that hypertext has its roots in printed text and that the two are different. "A literary hypertext often consists of units of prose, each the size of a paragraph or longer. Web pages are, after all, called pages and are often modeled on the graphic layout of a magazine or newspaper. Hypertexts remain linear and booklike at this level: they remediate the printed book as if by tearing out its pages and reordering them before the reader's eyes" (Bolter 43). He states that hypertext is a refashioning of printed text - the fact that hypertext is modeled out of printed text and that the two are experiencing tension shows that they are distinctly different. This is particularly important because some believe that hypertext is a replacement for print, even though the two currently have distinguished goals. In fact, at this point in time, Bolter claims the two actually need each other. "Print forms the tradition on which electronic writing depends, and electronic writing is that which goes beyond print. Print now depends on the electronic too, in the sense that printed materials find it necessary to compete against digital technologies in order to hold their readers" (Bolter 46). The comparison can also be made to us as Bolter writes, "the World Wide Web offers us the experience of moving through a visual and conceptual space different form the space of the book, although this experience still depends on our intuitive understanding of that earlier writing space. Indeed, we depend in a variety of ways on our knowledge of print in order to read and write hypertexts" (Bolter 45). Through this remediation phase, print is clearly different from hypertext and both are serving particular roles in our culture. As Daniel pointed out, Bolter is leaving it up to the reader to decided if the two will continue to be distinct or if hypertext will completely replace printed text.
[edit] Brian McEvoy's Response
A common notion between these early chapters seems to be print’s linearity and how electronic type is breaking that barrier. This seems to be a reoccurring point in the remediation of print. In chapter 3 Bolter reinforces his remediation argument with hypertext. “Hypertexts such as the World Wide Web refashion the voice of the text as we have known it in print and in earlier technologies of writing; they turn vocal writing into spatial writing” (Bolter p.45). I think this quote sums up Bolter’s ideas nicely. Though, printed text has a certain parallel to verbal speech in it’s linearity, hypertext builds upon that idea with (as stated by Bolter) it’s multi-linearity. In hypertext the transitions from page to page can be and many times are, entirely nonlinear though the information on one any given page is generally laid out in a linear, hierarchical fashion. I think by spatial writing Bolter is referring to the notion that the pages of a hypertext can exist on their own as their own separate entities, linked only by association. Rather than following the predetermined order as laid out by the author in printed text the reader of a hypertext has much more control over their experiences, allowed to view the text in the order they see fit on the fly.
Bolter’s discussion of hypertexts creates a nice dynamic with the previous readings on web-design. “Reading in the electronic medium can be challenging as well, for readers must decipher the system as the read” (Bolter p.38). Bolter’s quote in reference to every Web author’s different system creates a sort of segue to our web-design reading. The author of a website has to create a clean, simple interface for the user to navigate; otherwise as stated in the quote the site becomes challenging to read. The web-design articles for the most part, described how to create effective, easy to read websites. Websites that add to Bolter’s argument that hypertext is the remediation of printed text.
[edit] Response to Brian McEvoy's Response by Barrington Smith
Brian definitely hits the nail right on the head when he talked about hypertext being the remediation of print, and made a good point by stating Bolter's view of hypertext's multi-linearity. Bolter noted that, “The the supporters of hypertext may even argue that hypertext reflects the nature of the human mind itself...” (Bolter, p. 42). I would say, building on Brains point that print has a parallel to verbal speech in that its linear, that a lot of times we may wish that our speech was supplemented by external facts or ideas that could only come from other sources. Hypertext has given us the ability to extend the idea of print to include a much more rich and diverse, informative environment to collect information and knowledge beginning with hypertext in its true sense in the creation of the internet, and developing into the World Wide Web using hypermedia in 1993 (Bolter, p. 40).
Something I hadn't known, and that Bolter did mention was the the basis of hypertext in its true sense is implemented in most current publications in their table of contents and indexes. I also found that his visualization of topics was very informative in that you can look at topics as cutouts of books in the form of paragraphs, sentences, or even words. The Internet just allows these cutouts to be organized in such a fashion that is useful to us all.
[edit] Response to Brian McEvoy by Chris Jaeger
I agree with Brian McEvoy to a fairly large degree, in that much of the focus in remidiation is shattering the old walls that inhibit action. It isn’t just with hypertext that we have innovated beyond linearity, however. Bolter’s description of hypertext as a system of footnotes to footnotes is not there just for flavour. Indeed, hypertext’s improvements over printed text are very similar to the remediation from the old papyrus scroll medium to the codecs and books. Even within the feeble page system of books, there still is the ability to direct yourself as you choose: you do not have to begin at the start of a text, unlike a scroll. Bolter states that “In a modern book the table of contents […] defines the heirarchy while the indices record associative lines of thought that permeate the text” (Bolter 33-34). In a way, the system of indices, tables of contents, and the footnote referrence system can all be thought of as almost prototyping, or at the very least, foreshadowing the development of hypertext.
Certainly, the challenge of a new medium within writing may be frustrating to new readers, but that as well is nothing out of the ordinary. Even in the print mediums, authors have attempted innovative ways to change how we read things, and more mimic the flow we choose. Take the “Choose Your Own Adventure” style of novels, where you do not read from left to right but instead skip around pages as directed, based on your choices on how you want the story to unfold. Combined with the above as well as Brian’s statements, it really becomes apparent that our direction towards hypertext is no mere coincidence, and that the remediation of print is very real.
[edit] Response to Chapter 3 of Bolter by Matthew Fyffe
In chapter 3, Bolter looks at the third word in the term World Wide Web. When dealing with sites on the Internet, the system is never as static and methodical as the turning of pages in a book but instead, is a web of information that allows the reader to bounce from location to location. This is the chief concept behind hypertext and is one way in which it is a remediation of print. On the Internet, “One linked phrase may lead the reader to a longer, more elaborate page. All the individual pages may be of equal importance in the whole text, which becomes a network of interconnected writings”(Bolter 27).
Hypertext allows the writer to lace links throughout the article, enabling readers to explore the topic more thoroughly as they so desire. Bolter likens this concept to a more developed form of print’s footnotes and further compares it to indices. “In one sense the index defines other books that could be constructed from the materials at hand, other themes that the author could have formed into an analytical narrative, and so invites the reader to read the book in alternative ways” (Bolter 34). This description of a book’s index identifies the strength of hypertext: empowerment. The reader is no longer forced to read a linear piece that is finished once all of the words have been read. On the Internet, upon completing the piece, the reader has merely begun the journey into the topic at hand. By properly utilizing links, the author can enable the reader to explore the topic as the reader sees fit and to follow the strands that interest him or her most.
[edit] Response to Matthew Fyffe's Response by E. Filipov
I strongly agree with Matthew’s response to Chapter 3. He is correct to describe Bolter’s fascination with hypertext as new media, which is has the advantage of linking together information. Bolter himself relates hypertext to a tree or even an entire forest of information, in the sense that the web sites are linked to gathered to create a hierarchy that is extremely easy to navigate. He then relates this type of organization to human thinking of “associative relationships” (Bolter pg 33) which involves jumping from idea to idea until he right answer is discovered. Matthew describes this as a great advantage for humans to perceive information without being forced to go trough a text in the normal linear format. In Writing Space Bolter finally takes a firmer stand on the side of computers and lists several strong points for which he thinks that they are superior to straight forward printed texts. Matthew describes the author’s admiration to the fact that digital text is very malleable and can be written by numerous informants, unlike books which “heroically resist change” (Bolter pg 37). In addition to Matthew’s response Bolter uses the idea of multimedia, in the sense of using different media together to show a more comprehensive image that can reach a larger audience. And finally although both writers seem to support hypertext’s functionality, they state its superiority carefully as a simple remediation and strengthening of the printed text that we currently use.
[edit] Cory Anderson's Response
In this reading Bolter addresses the relationship between images and text, and how important it is to have a good balance between them. A lot of times on the World Wide Web images outshine the text. In a very well presented article the images need to enhance the article, because a lot of the valuable information usually stands in the text of a document. Another point to bring up is the power of hypertext on the web. When users browse the web there are almost infinite links upon links shooting information at the user. Hypertext in something like a newspaper is not nearly as powerful as hypertext on the web. A newspaper only has limited information that was written within a day or two, but with the web, hypertext can lead you to a phenomenal amount of information; however some of that information may not be reliable which can be the down side of the web. I think hypertext is a much more beneficial way of presenting information because it lets the user choose how to connect certain information to other information. “A hypertext is like a printed book that the author has attacked with a pair of scissors and cut into convenient verbal sizes. The difference is that the electronic hypertext does not imply dissolve into a disorderly heap, because the author also defines a scheme of electronic connections to indicate relationships among the slips” (Bolter, p.35). In my opinion this represents how valuable as a teaching tool hypertext can be.
[edit] Response to Cory Anderson's Response by Kenny Johnson
It's interesting that Cory mentions "how valuable as a teaching tool hypertext can be." As I was reading, I was thinking about how class discussion is similar to hypertext - a student might bring up an insightful point, that leads the class along a new path in a non-linear discussion. The discussion might expand beyond what Dr. Jan had planned for, as students bring a variety of experiences and extended knowledge to the class. Cory also brings up a good point that "hypertext can lead you to a phenomenal amount of information" compared to printed text, like a newspaper. Bolter describes the online writing space as "topographic...with spatially realized topics" (Bolter 36), and unlike a newspaper, the web can instantly connect a near infinite wealth of topics to a reader. A person can argue that this arrangement of writing space is less (or more) natural than linear text on print media, but Bolter mentions that "the Internet is helping to redefine the relationship of word and image" (Bolter 40) and that "it seems increasingly natural to represent all sorts on information as hypertext on the World Wide Web" (Bolter 46). Bolter ends Chapter 3 with a strong point that "electronic hypertext is not the end of print; it is instead the remediation of print" (Bolter 46). Hypertext, as Cory points out, improves on linear text in many ways, but it does not replace it!
[edit] Marissa Hecker's Response
Chapter 3 of Bolter’s Writing Space, introduces the reader to the concept of hypertext and its usage in the World Wide Web. Simply defined, hypertext is textual data that contains links to other documents of texts. It’s a way of presenting information online by using links to connect one piece of information to another. Using hypertext can be used as a method of browsing related topics. However, each subsequent page linked from another does not result in a footnote of the previous page as in printed books, but as Bolter states, “One linked phrase may lead the reader to a longer, more elaborate page…all the individual pages may be of equal importance in the whole text”(Bolter 27).
Hypertext offers a remediation of print because it is easy to establish into structures and grouped into topics or units for organization in the writing process. Bolter justifies his argument by stating, “By defining topical symbols, such as headings in an outline, the writer can, like the programmer or the mathematician, abstract herself temporarily from the details of the prose. The value of this abstraction lies in seeing more clearly the structural skeleton of the text” (Bolter 30). The links in hypertext can represent the skeletal structure of a page, just like an outline represents the skeletal structure of a printed essay.
[edit] Keve Zoltani's Response to Marissa Hecker
I agree with many things Marissa said. Bolter draws the picture of hypertext and how it is like a network of webpages. Web pages can be represented like tree's which were used to be used in the olden days, "Unlike the space of the printed book, the electronic writing space can represent any relationships that can be defined." (Bolter, 32) The links from one page to the next are comparable to footnotes in a book as Marissa stated.
I also agree that hypertexts offers a remediation of print to a certain degree by being more organized to understandable structures but print still offers good organization. Headings in print are more informative than people take for granted because they give you a good overview of what you are reading about and attempting to understand. The internet makes heading easier to make and drawing connections through links, but as we discussed in class print is easier to trust and doesnt throw you to different pages of hopefully similar content.
[edit] Response to Chapter 3 of Bolter by Terry Isabella
Bolter’s discussion of topical units was very interesting. In this section, Bolter talks about a writer’s ability to delete and move words and sentences throughout text as well as entire paragraphs with a word processor. Bolter says that, “In using these facilities, the writer is thinking and writing in terms of verbal units or topics, whose meaning transcends their constituent words” (Bolter 29). Although much simpler with a word processor, unless I’m misunderstanding, the process in not a new one. When done on paper with pen, it is a process of circling, scribbling-out, and drawing arrows. This process precedes the typing phase, and I believe that the writer’s thinking has always been the same. In relation to this idea of topical units which have been simplified by the word processor, Bolter adds that, “They [computer programmers] did not, however, take the further step of allowing a writer to associate a name or a visual symbol with each topical unit, which would give the unit a conceptual identity” (Bolter 30). I thought this idea was interesting, but perhaps, extracted from the technique of the computer programmer to write a function and call to it as needed. If I understand Bolter correctly, I don’t think that that would be a useful function of the word processor. Why would I write a paragraph in a location and then call to it in the body of my text, especially more than once? I can see the process somehow being useful for a writer to organize his or her work, but as the body of work becomes very large, it could be quite complicated to keep track of all of the “conceptual identities” the writer has generated.
[edit] Response to Chapter 3 of Bolter by Daniel Jones
Bolter discusses the relationship between hypertexts and printed books. He feels that “electronic hypertext is not the end of print; it is the remediation of print” (Bolter 46).Hypertexts improve upon printed media by adding a sense of interactivity and nonlinearity to the writing world. The way hypertexts improve printed books is through its associative links. Hypertextual links may associate an indefinite number of links as opposed to the footnotes of a printed book that will only have one association. These links can also lead the reader to other Web sites for information related to the topic with just one click, but it is not that simple for a book. One would have to go to the library and conduct research on the topic to find out more information.
Bolter states that hypertexts “remediate the printed book as if by tearing out its pages and reordering them before the reader’s eyes” (Bolter 43). Hypertext did not change or create some new form of writing like paper did to papyrus; it refashioned printed books by giving the reader the control of the organization of the material.
[edit] Response to Daniel Jones' Response by Perry Lynch
Bolter indeed sees Hypertext as a remediation of print. He states "Hypertexts such as the World Wide Web refashion the voice of the text as we have known it in print and in earlier technologies of writing; they turn vocal writing into spatial writing" (Bolter, 45). Expanding on what Daniel wrote about Hypertextual links, Bolter continuously refers to the World Wide Web as a "network" (Bolter, 34) which is a fitting description. The term "network" highlights the high level of associativity on the web.
While reading this chapter and its many references to the associativity of the web, I could not help but think about the Semantic Web and how it could improve the web's associativity and help eliminate what Bolter refers to as the lack of a "controlling conceptual hierarchy" (Bolter, 34). Through the use of artificially intelligent agents on the Semantic Web, pages and Hypertext could be parsed, manipulated to suit a reader, and then displayed to a user's preference. I wonder whether this would be considered another remediation of print, since it would require more pages to be written in RDF instead of HTML, thus changing the framework for writing to the world wide web. Furthermore, it would would change the way information is presented to a reader. I also wonder what Bolter's opinion on the Semantic Web is.
[edit] Eric Wyler's Response
It seems to me that Bolter is arguing that the World Wide Web is not only changing the physical writing space, but also the manner in which we construct our own interpretations of the ideas which we read. Specifically, Bolter mentions that, when visiting pages, "the first element has an added meaning as the source of the connection, and the second element now takes on meaning as a destination" (37). After viewing the two pages, the reader has now formed a unique connection between them which may not have been formed had the second page been reached in a different manner. This uniqueness of connections, I feel, is the underlying meaning behind Bolter's statement that "the World Wide Web offers us the experience of moving through a visual and conceptual space different from the space of the book, although this experience still depends on our intuitive understanding of that earlier writing space" (45). For further elaboration, consider a person who has predominantly experienced books to be incredibly linear, a one-way street with no exceptions. Keep in mind that people understand new experiences by comparing them to the past. This person will most likely expect a web page to act in the same way as a book and will accordingly form strong connections between the current page and the next. Now consider the opposite person, someone that routinely reads books by the index and very rarely reads one page after the other. Chances are they will experience the web with greater enjoyment, because they already view writing spaces as networks that can be traversed in any number of ways. Bolter has indeed stated that the writing space is evolving, but what is also evolving is the methods with which we, as readers, employ to understand it.
[edit] Response to Chapter 3 of Bolter by Chris Dromms
Bolter spends a lot of Chapter 3 talking about the balance of pictures and images and what hypertext is. A large part of the discussion directly related to hypertext is concerning what effect hypertext has on the writing space compared to print. Outside of the fact that hypertext will look different and people can break out of set paths, hyptertext on the WWW will change the way people actually read the content. "Web pages function as ordinary text, but they also function as places along a path" (Bolter 28).In print there is a very linear path in which the reader will progress through the print. Online, the reader will go to whichever link he or she feels like clicking. Progression is no longer linear, but it would be impossible to really pick any sort of path as to which progression path the reader would take through the different web pages. Bolter makes an arguement for how this is good because the human brain doesn't work in a linear fashion, rather a complex web of interconnections.
[edit] Jeff Connolly's Response to Chris Dromms
In Chapter three Bolter does spend a lot of time talking about how pictures and images balance each other and what hhypertext really is. I agree with Chris in the fact that Bolter's discussion does directly relate the effect that hypertext has on the writing spaced compared to print. Hypertext has the ability to come n more shapes, sizes and diferent fonts, but I also believe that when a person sits down to write something they still have the same mind frame. Whenever someone sits down to write something the first thing you always do is think about what you are going to write about and this doesn't change whether it is being hand written on paper or typed on a computer. "Web pages function as ordinary text, but they also function as places along a path" (Bolter 28). This quote that Chris mentioned in his response to the reading is a good one. I like the fact that Bolter recognized and pointed out one of the best things about hypertext and that is the easy accesability to read furthur into things with just the click of a button and not having to get to a library to look for more information. The reader has the choice to click on these links to extend there interest on a certain subjuct or may continue reading as normal.
[edit] Response to Chapter 3 of Bolter by Ryan Bobrowski
I like Bolter's idea that the web is a collection of footnotes to footnotes, and that "in the computer we have already come to regard this layered writing and reading as natural." In books, this idea is ridiculous, but on the internet, you can endlessly hop from page to page discovering related or completely new information and ideas. After reading the first two chapters, I could almost guess that this was where Bolter would go next, because in my own mind I felt that if books are really going to be on a decline, the web must continue being just that- a web, full of different pathways and ideas that may have something to do with or even lead back to the previous location, but in the end it is its own space that leads to even more pathways and ideas. This does not just apply to e-text, but also images, sound, and video. An article about saving whales may be just a block of text, but it could also have a link to a video of a whale getting harpooned to death, pictures of a family of whales, and so on.
Bolter goes on to explain a little bit about the history of hypertext in computers and computer programming, as well as the advent of the web as a hypertext vehicle. He then goes on to explain that "Hypertext in all its electronic forms is the remediation of print." I very much agree with the statement, "hypertext reflects the nature of the human mind itself - that because we think associatively, not linearly, hypertext allows us to write how we think." It all comes down to the additional features of e-text as compared with printed text. E-text can do all that printed text can- in fact, it can be copied word for word. However, the hypertext aspect of the internet brings e-text to a new level and allows people to go wherever their mind tells them to. Imagine someone reading a book that brings up many philosophical questions, but never tries to answer them. The reader would have a burning desire to find out what others think about these questions, but would have no quickly accessible way to do so. On the web, this user reading the same text will be able to follow links to other texts or even to a forum of discussion about what he just read. The feature-rich capabilities of electronic text raise it above printed text.
[edit] David Crolius's Response to Ryan Bobrowski
I agree with Ryan and Bolter regarding the idea that the Internet can be a series of footnotes to topics and even footnotes to footnotes. An excellent example of this is Wikipedia. You can go in searching for an article on a particular subject, but before you know it you could be viewing an article that is linked to the original page through several different reference links on various Wikipedia pages. This feature is really what makes the Internet a more efficient source for data that could be especially useful. I find it interesting that Bolter makes the point that “hypertext the nature of the human mind itself-that because we think associatively, not linearly, hypertext allows us to write as we think” (Bolter 42). I feel that I personally think both in a linear way and in an associative way.
I find Ryan’s point about books leaving possible questions unanswered, but not the Internet to be a very interesting one. I had not quite thought about it in those terms. I also agree that electronic text is able to do everything printed text can and more.
[edit] Robert Augelli's Response to Ryan Bobrowski
The concept pertaining to “footnotes to footnotes” (Bolter, 27) is an idea that can seem very contradictory at times. I agree with Ryan’s assessment that in novel writing the concept seems flat out obscene, but on the Internet it is a legitimate thing to do. However, I feel that this notion should be explored a bit more. What makes such a thing fair game in one medium but not in the other? Why does the Internet allow free reign when it comes to constantly pointing people in a different direction instead of providing the reader a reason to mentally explore what the author has chosen to argue? Bolter later argues that perhaps this haphazard method of simply linking site to site via hyperlinks is actually destroying the mental flexibility many people expect the World Wide Web to deliver.
For this reason, I somewhat agree with Ryan’s assessment of hypertexting. I, along with Ryan, believe that the World Wide Web is the next step in the process of media, but I do not agree with what Ryan portrays as “quickly accessible” information. His argument is that in previous times when the book was the main choice for literature, people would have very profound thoughts but no easy way to fully develop them. While this may be true, I feel that Ryan may have overlooked one major point. This is that the Internet may in effect prevent readers from developing these profound thoughts since all of the author’s ideas are linked to other sites with other “facts of knowledge.” This so called freedom that the World Wide Web provides also may stunt the human mind from thinking on its own. Sure it may be very possible to find all sorts of thoughts and information via the World Wide Web, but this in itself is the very problem. People may become too dependent on simply looking up information instead of actually sitting down and thinking up creative new ideas. Bolter exemplifies this point when he states, “If authors prescribe links, they deny the reader the choice of making her own associations, so that a printed novel or essay actually gives the reader a greater freedom to interact with the ideas presented” (Bolter, 43).
Lastly, Ryan ends claiming that the World Wide Web, as a means of creating text, has many features that we may not have even been touched upon yet and I fully agree with him. I do believe that the possibilities are endless with the Internet, but it is in our best interest as an intelligent society to make sure we do not fully forget how to formulate and develop our own creative minds.
[edit] Malcolm Rose's Response
Hypertext is changing the language and style of the physical writing space and our means of communication and perception. For example, “We say the reader or user “visits” Web pages in California, Germany, or Japan when in fact we could easily say that the pages come to her. Technically, her computer’s browser contacts the server that holds the pages of text and graphics, which the server then transmits to her machine for display. (Bolter, 29) Thanks to the complexity of computer programs, the electronic Writing space is extremely malleable fashioned into one tree or into a forest of hierarchal of trees. Of course Bolter brings up the issue if hypertextual writing is fundamentally different from and better than writing for print. Although hypertext uses print as it’s object of remediation, according to Bolter. Hence forth, print and hypertext work simultaneously with each other and need each other too. Our culture is based off both forms of writing and is in fact dependent on both writing to work together. We view print as outdated, simple and natural but hypertext is just a more multi-complex style of print.
Digital media, hypertext, and digital text can all be found in multimedia. Multimedia involves sound, video, text, and of course visual graphics. Print can include pictures but not to the same degree of a web page. “Words no longer seem to carry conviction without the reappearance as a picture of the imagery that was latent in them.” (Bolter, 54) The reason for this was because of the invention of photography in the 19th century and pictures say a thousand words.
