Hypertext is the new pen

In Johanna Drucker’s essay, “Graphic Devices: Narration and Navigation”, she explains that, with our advanced tools, we are able to make a text so much more than words on a page (physical page or webpage). Prior to the late 20^th century, people had to use typewriters to write and inking words onto a page was literally all those machines were capable of. Why is it then do people’s printed documents, created on highly developed computers, still look like they were typed on a typewriter? According to Drucker, people aren’t entirely aware of how much they can manipulate a page on a computer and it’s frightening because once the elements of a text beyond the content becomes a normal aspect of composition, people might have a difficult time processing what they are reading because it so multimodal. We are in an age where design is just as important as content, if not slightly more important because the way something looks at a glance is what will cause someone to read it or not. Concrete poetry is form of poetry that utilizes the aesthetic look of the letters on the page in order to convey its meaning which is also what computers do, but on a higher level. It’s no longer about what the text says, but how the text is presented to the human eye. I am guilty of treating my computer like a typewriter because I am not entirely sure of what it is capable of yet which is what I feel happens to a lot of computer-users. A computer can do so much more than print out 8 x 11 documents with black, serif letters on it; it can make the words speak for themselves through design and layout which is important because we live in a culture of information and it’s constantly a race to see who can purge out as much information as possible.

             
Joseph Tabbi explores the notion that computers are the new platform for texts because we have moved well-beyond the quill and papyrus as a means to distribute information. Online publication is the new norm even though ten years ago, a writer would have scoffed at their work not being mass-printed with a smattering of copies in the library and at the bookstore because the bound paper book is what substantiated the text. However, online publication is a more viable option for literature because something published online can reach anyone in the world whereas books, on the other hand, never get farther than ten miles from the library. The digitalization of literature allows for mass consumption of knowledge, making information more accessible for all people and, ultimately, intellectualizing the masses.