Questions & Responses on Chapter 1:
1. What made word processing technology adopt the continuous vertical "scroll" format for processing documents as opposed to a horizontal "scroll" format that is actually more closely related to the way books were printed? 2. I am still somewhat confused by the term hypertext. Does this refer to all electronic texts, websites, and word processed documents on computers today? —Doug
Why it's no denying emerging technologies such as cyberspace is redefining the way we communicate, I wouldn't pronounce the death rattle of traditional print just yet. While I admire Mr. Bolter's enthusiastic views on the overall potential emerging technologies have to offer, I think -- for now -- I would rather read my comic books the old fashion way. Aint it cool news is a one stop destination of pop culture news -- movies, television, comic books, ect. At first glance, the website doesn't look like much. Its initial orientation doesn't involve flashy graphics or designs, just good old movie and television scoops. Navigation is pretty simple if not sporadic at times -- but if you're a regular viewer you get used to it. But the overall content of the website -- I think -- is its number one strength. TOP STORIES are on the left, LATEST NEWS is centered in the middle, and TELEVISION NEWS is on the right. As you scroll downward -- COMICS and ANIMATION news is situated at the bottom. Fans of movies, television, comic books, and animation don't come for flash -- they want INFO. Aint it cool news exemplifies the old saying of "substance over style." Aint it cool news is like a homely grease pit of a hamburger stand -- certainly nothing to look at, but once you try the double cheese burger, fries, and chocolate malt -- you'll be a regular for life. —Farad
Digital media or printed books? That is the question. I don’t think that people should be considering them as separate things but more like one evolved into another. We have by no means lost the need for printed information, but it is so easy to access digital. I like having an actual piece of paper with my picture or information on it but seeing it float and move around on a screen? WOW. So each has a place and both are functional. I couldn’t say if I perfered one over another because they are tied together in a lot of ways. Media does have a lot of advantages because it is much easier to view and to take in, but print is more long term, and it’s something you can hold in your hand and you know it will still be there tomorrow. Why does the writer refer to their relationship as “tension”? I don’t think it’s a battle between which one is better or more useful. I think they are just two things that esist but not competing. It gives people options and I guess that everyone has their personal preference. —Jenn
When reviewing chapter 1 of “Writing Space”, it discussed the past present and immediate future of text and bookmaking. It was interesting to get a view of the past and how recording text was so primitive. The way they used to write and keep books makes today look like a breeze. The information they give about the recording of text, with our 21st century word processing programs, is accurate but falls short of their capabilities. The use of moving pictures and text was a great visual when thinking about the capabilities we have today. We can only assume this was intended as a primitive way of predicting something like the Internet. When we build sites, we can use such programs a Flash and Imageready to create movable images to enhance a reader’s perception of something being discussed. The prediction about books becoming nonexistent is quite hard to believe however. Although it has proven time and time again that computer programs such as Microsoft Word are a superior forms of keeping text. However, people are nostalgic, like the feeling of books, and enjoy libraries for their atmosphere. Some may also believe that as soon as we surrender all of our work to the technological world, that we have lost complete control over our work. I believe that the chapter had some great points and findings that should be considered in every great writer. It is interesting to see a prediction from the past of the way the future will be. It is interesting to imagine the possibilities that another 20 years can bring for text keeping and the world of technology. —Jim
when i read the line in chapter 1 that states, ' the printing press has been perhaps the most important tool of the modern scientist, i completely understood it. it is definitely the easiest and fastest way to relay knowledge to others, at least before the internet and email were created. I believe it is also easier to keep records in printed form rather than online files. Printed books, I agree, are a late technology but will never go unused. I understand, however, what raymond kurzweil believed when he said that electronic books enhance a readers enjoyment and will make printed books extinct. however, not everybody wants to use more advanced technology to learn. i for one dont need to constantly be in cyberspace to be intelligent. i believe it will take much longer for the book to die out (if it does at all) than the people of chapter 1 believe. Justin
While reading the first chapter of Writing Space, I couldn't tell if he liked the direction that our technology was going or not. Does he like digital writing rather than buying a book at the store? It just seemed really vague to me. I thought it was interesting the way he basically gave the history of printing starting with the first printing press and to how it has drastically changed over the years. There were some things that I never knew until reading this first chapter. —Krista
Will digital media replace print? This will definitely stand the test of time because coming of a new era everything is profoundly more technological. Society realizes that is can function better off of technology. This does not mean that reading text from books will ever completely fade out, but it will definitely be the lesser of the two. It says writers still generally write with a single, fixed order in mind, but the popularity of the World Wide Web and CD-ROM and DVD is leading some to exploring more fluid structures. This says it all for me because not too long ago it was tapes to listen to, then cd's came about, and almost now are completely faded out due to I POD's. This is because technology has taken the more socially appealing approach and has tried always to simplify everyday life. Print will always be necessary I believe, but will definitely take a back seat to media. —Laura
I like when the book states "The word processor is an aid for making perfect printed copy: the goal is still ink on paper." As long as I can remember back into my grade school years, anytime any homework was assigned it was pencil on paper. It took twice as long, but at that time, apples were all we had and they were of little use to us at that time. Typing out a 15 page paper will surely take much less time that writing it all out with a pencil. Again, ink on paper with typing, but having a simplified way of doing so. Simplifying for the sake of the new era arising. For the rest of our lives, we MAYBE would have been ok without Window's Word Processor or anything of the sort, but life would still be hard and not much advancement in many areas of life would be possible. This really makes you grateful for those always seeking something better in life.
First I would like to start of by saying this is a very challenging book. It is really hard for me to understand and comprehend it. From the little I did understand...My question is why Is there tension between print and digital forms. I would think that it having digital makes the books more special and authentic. Why cant digital just be another form of gathering reading and exploring. Why does it have to be the enemy. I also think that digital make reading more exciting and encourages it, due to graphics and fonts. Digital just fits our fast life. It is hard to go look up books/ journals/ ect. in the Lib were you can just do it at home. This saves time for people who really need the most. At home moms kids who cant drive and partnes wont drive them. ect —Lorin
On pages 7-9 the author mentions Gutenberg and the thought he might be appalled if someone took his foilo-sized bible to bed. Last year i discover a site with several publications of novels and plays on-line http://www.gutenberg.org/ and i was wondering if it was any relation. To the theory and it being online, or if these are totally two different indivduals. —Michael
This chapter touched a lot on the significance of printed text versus text on the internet or on a computer document. Various people have stated that the significance of the printed text (i.e. books and journals) is slowly decreasing as technology advances. I, being the English major that I am, disagree with this statement. I feel that printed text has much more significance than words on the internet that can be altered or changed easily. One statement really caught my eye: "Few authors today aspire to publish a first novel on the Internet" (3). This statement reassures me that the significance of printed text will always remain. Bolter also says something along the lines of... a printed text is like stepping into the author's world. It's the property of the author and the reader is just a guess into his universe. I like that. Digital media is, however, almost taking over the printing business. It's a lot easier for people to "read" books on tape than it is to read an actual printed text. With everyone's hectic, busy lives and frequent trips in the car, popping the book on CD is slightly easier. Hopefully, despite all of the upcoming digital media, printed text will still have a large significance in literature. —Nicole
The late age of print changed the world in a dramatic way. Writers were able to go from hand writing everything to making multiple copies from a machine. Would this new invention take away from the value of a hand written document or would it help in the fact the writer could make more copies and at a faster pace so more people could read them? Books have become a very vital part of every person’s life. We use them in school, at church, work, and even for personal enjoyment. Written text that could be copied and put together in a book will always have a greater impact on people than something that they can read over the internet. Having a hard copy of something is much easier to travel with less expensive. People can take books on planes with them, to the park, and even on trips in the car. But when you read something off the internet you have to have a computer, then you have to have a source of electricity and then you need the internet. I think that sometimes when something isn’t broken then why fix it? But if you have these resources then it is much more convenient to read a book over the internet because you don’t have to order it and wait two weeks or run all over town looking for it. I personally like to have a hard copy of the book. Then when I see something important or something that I need to remember then I can make notes in the book and its easier for me to carry around a book than it is to carry my lap top every where. I feel that the future of writing, whether in print or electronically, is endless. Writing is just going to move with the times just like everything else. I see that more and more books will be written on the internet and read that way but I don’t think that it will ever eliminate printed copies. The book said something about making schools more interactive and using electronic forms more than a paper book. I see how that would be awesome and really save on paper but at the same time, would I be able to view this interactive book at home and be able to study from it? Or would it have to be something that is only done in the classroom? It is very nice to have something to see and go back and forth in when I’m trying to learn something new on a computer. I couldn’t imagine being a writer in this time frame. How do you decide whether to have your book published online or in hard copy form? Or do you do both? I could see how making a bad choice here could really hurt a writer. I think right now there is a good mix of things that are written on the internet and also published in books. I think that there are two things that I could not do with out being printed; I would need to have the daily newspaper and school books. I think that all this change is good but at the same time books will never go away and honestly I don’t think that we want them too. Some religions have been saved due to the fact that people wrote down their beliefs and what their beliefs stand for. Things will always need to have hard copies! (1)Would this new invention take away from the value of a hand written document or would it help in the fact the writer could make more copies and at a faster pace so more people could read them? (2) When making schools more interactive, would I be able to view this interactive book at home and be able to study from it? Or would it have to be something that is only done in the classroom? —Rachael
Overall, in reading the chapter, I see a complete gray area as to the controversy between printed text and computerized text. In viewing both perspectives, I can definitely see advantages and disadvantages with each text. Printed text seems more personalized and varied than the computerized uniformity of a computer. However, many computer programs make it possible now to break the conventional methods with the use of varied formatting, editing capability, accessibility and convenience, as well as the capability to add voice and character to work. I personally, am somewhat "old school" about writing. Therefore, I have definitely learned to appreciate what books stand for within society. On the other hand, I also see the trends in popularity of computer usage in moving into a new age. Overall, I think that this subject will remain controversial due to many variables, such as public opinion across varying generations, accessibility and convenience in educational purposes, remaining steadfast to earlier tradition, etc. —Sarah J.
While reading this chapter, I was most fascinated by the idea that books, as we know them, could be all but obsolete one day. I understand the author’s arguments against those who say books will never lose their convenience over computer text. Of course, technology will continue to advance rapidly and become cheaper at amazing paces we can’t fathom. Soon many people will likely have easy access to small notebooks that would be easy to read in bed, etc. After all, many of us probably never would have foreseen working on major writing projects in bed with our laptops propped up on a pillow—but many, many of us write this way even now. And, obviously, there are many similarities (and differences!) between our comfort levels with respect to both writing spaces and reading spaces. However, what I think is important to this discussion that Bolter never considers is that whether or not technology will continue to advance at such a rate that it becomes so much less expensive that it doesn’t create huge divisions between classes and nations. Sure, the average middle-class American may stop owning books, but what about the lower classes? What about developing nations with huge populations of poverty stricken people? Even in the U.S., will schools who can’t afford to update technology be destined to teach their students at substandard paces? Will students who don’t have access to as much technology at home lag behind their peers? Can technology help people to read and write better, more efficiently, with more practice? Sure. But will it also cause huge divisions between any nation’s haves and have-nots? What about between Western nations and developing nations? I think so. That, to me (an English Ed major) is the more interesting and disturbing piece of this discussion. Sarah S.
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