This is an interesting article. Contrasting the differences between hypertext and traditional text.
The advent of hypertext is revolutionary in terms of communication. It also could mean the end of traditional text. This is evident in the decline in book and newspaper sales. The use of hypertext can allow a person do to so much more. It is more fluid. Links, photos and up to date stories. It is ever changing and keeps up with current events. Orginal text does not do this at all. Obsolete in many ways. However, I like books and newspapers since they are a tangible items. I also like them since it is easier to locate and item. I sometimes have an issue locating hypertext items that I have read and have not made a note of there address. This can be frustrating to people.
The article gave insight into what is considered the next step of written communication. This is an important step just was the advent of the wrtten text. It reminds us that new technologies may spring up in the future and that hyper text may go by the way side of the printed text.
Certainly, hypertext is a different way of reading and consuming content, and it is a deviation from what we consider traditional media. I know that when there is a physical book in front of me that has a set pattern from cover to cover, there is a value in that compared to the text-split, multiple-branch way of text on the Internet that hypertext in the article alludes to. The fluidity and organizational spacity of hypertext has now been extended to visual mediums, as interactivity with the text together with pictures and video is establishing the next generation of content consumption, and the hypertext prelude is an important milestone in the transition from printed, physical media to digital, virtual ones.
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