Hypertext Gardens
"The attention of the audience is a writer's most precious possession"
- Hypertext can be crafted to entice readers to explore- Hypertext can be used to help hold readers attention
Computer Lib / Dream Machine
- Codex that combines 2 books back-to-back
- Computer lib: accurately predicts and describes personal computers and challenged the then-current use of computers
- everybody should understand computers
- "man has created the myth of “the computer” in his own image, or one of them: cold, immaculate, sterile, “scientific,” oppressive."
- design should focus on creativity, while also having the reader/audience in consideration (similar to Krug's advice)
- details of design matter greatly
- "THE TECHNICALITIES MATTER A LOT, BUT THE UNIFYING VISION MATTERS MORE."
- "Why does it matter? It matters because we live in media, as fish live in water."
Reading on the Screen
- History of reading = similar to history of book
- Book originated from codex format ("booklet"), scroll became obsolete
Scroll
- non-compact, must use hands
- compact, hands-free, make text easy to read
- codex made silent reading easier
Heyer's Three Modes of Reading
- 1) Grazing Mode: continuous reading, like when reading a book
- 2) Browsing Mode: scanning/skimming, like in a magazine
- 3) Hunting Mode: reader is seeking specific information, like in a dictionary
Literary Machines
- Hypertext types
- basic/chunk style: offers choices
- collateral: compound annotations/parallel text
- stretch text: changing continuously, requires unusual techniques
- grand hypertext: consists of "everything" on a subject (or even vaguely relevant)
