How Writing Hypertext is Different than Writing for Print: Part I
Summary of Jay David Bolter's "Hypertext and The Remediation of Print"
- Because it has a layering effect
- Links (infinite) vs. footnotes (limited)
- Tree diagram
How writing hypertext is different than writing for print
Hypertext introduces simple writing to the availability of links which take the place of footnotes in printed text. The information in hypertext writing is spatial in organization. Links can be a network of interconnected writings providing additional information from other sources. In turn, this may provide links to other sources, that can open a more broad array of informational choices. Because of broad range of informational choices, the researcher may find useful information on a site where they otherwise may not have searched. Hypertext is not required to follow the typical linear rules of printed text where there is limited access and strict hierarchy.
In word processors, text can be edited, moved around, copied, and pasted within a document as well as to other documents with ease. Word processing makes it possible to arrange the structure in a "topical" outline format. The creator of the site can alter any of the outlines while keeping others intact. In that way the structure of the electronic text is abstracted from verbal expression. This suggests that for the electronic writing space there are some cultural differences from the ones that we have assigned to print.
The author suggests that hypertext is better than print because it is more reflective of how the human mind works because we think associatively rather that linearly. Hypertext lets us write down our thoughts and organize them later.