From: spike66 (spike66@ATTBI.com)
Date: Tue Apr 02 2002 - 22:59:17 MST
[ spike predicted]
>...that the lack of hyperlinking capability on paper
>text will cause that medium to become practically
>obsolete. Watch the book industry implode by 2012.
Let me explain my reasoning with this experiment: Write your
autobiography in 100 words. Now put hyperlinks in those 100
words with the total number of words in all the links not exceeding
1000. Now put hyperlinks in the links for a total of 1E4 words.
What you end up with is a document that cannot effectively be
used on paper. The hyperlinked document isfaaaar more useful,
far more informative, more convenient, cheap, and lets the reader
spend only as much time as necessary to get the facts about
you that she wants. Being set free from paper is a huge leap.
Once you get used to reading soft copy, you cannot effectively
go back. You dont want to.
What I expect is to see authors taking the leap into a related
but unique genre of writing novels that cannot be effectively
written on paper. It becomes a kind of hybrid between a
traditional novel and a text based adventure game.
This all ignores the possibilities of inserting graphics into
text, as well as sound files, odor files and perhaps tactile
files. We could even imagine specialized hardware that
would allow authors of the future version of the romance
novels to insert orgasm files. I dont pretend to know how
that would be accomplished, but I would buy one.
I think Damien Broderick is already experimenting with
soft copy hyperlinked novels. I am eager to see the
result. I myself am creating documentation of my project
at work that is highly hyperlinked and cannot really be
used without the link capability.
spike
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