Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print

I read with fascination Bolter's descriptions of the history of writing and the advent of computer writing and its implications for the future. There is no question that writers and critics will have to utilize, adapt to, and comment on computer technologies and their possibilities and limitations. Bolter believes that hypertext and its fracturing, network affect on texts will seriously alter the way people write and perceive. He sees a world in which texts will circulate and be added to and get set up in such a way that the reader will have a free hand in their organization. I have to say that I am a little skeptical about this. It seems to me that the public will still want to read things that make clear, identifiable points, thus providing them with useful information, opinions, and coherent aesthetic experiences. Hypertext will be a part of the future, but its creators will not be able to go nuts and create huge, sprawling webs of information that will take a lot of effort to make sense out of. Clear, unaltered text will still be in demand. Writers, scientists, and critics will still want to retain a fair amount of control texts that they work so hard to create, and not simply throw them out there to be rearranged by anybody. For the hypertext aesthetic to really take hold, it will have to offer some practically useful methods of organizing text - like Wikipedia does, for example. *Note - this should be 3 stars, not 4

It gives me great pleasure to submit the first critique for "Writing Space." Mr. Bolter is the only author I have discovered in my four years of study I actually enjoy reading. Mr. Bolter succinctly verbalizes the importance of understanding new media and finding a resolution to the gap we are realizing between the print mediums and new technologies. Mr. Bolter's writing provides the bridge for this gap. "Writing Space" forms a concise basis for anyone who is interested in the issue of reconciliation between the old and the new forms of media. This text is the begining in the understanding of the history of print and the advances of media to the modern age and computer use. I have read some very incomprehensible text on the subject but Mr. Bolter has created works that are a pleasure to read and easy to assimilate. He illuminates these subjects for everyone. Mr. Bolter provides a validation that the general public, the scholar and the instructor can begin to realize in unifying the concepts in communication and information technology studies. Mr. Bolter's works should be the reference of choice. This should be the first text you choose! This is a stand alone text or could be combined with his other texts as an entire semester of study.