My favorite section of this chapter would have to be the first page. With the help of Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris excerpt, Bolter's introduction to his introduction created a great image for me. I really find the idea of "This will destroy that." The power of a book over a monumental structure and hundreds of years of history is a grand example of societal evolution. Granted, Notre Dame is still standing as a major tourist attraction and place of worship, it's purpose is different now than when it was first erected. Text has changed many time over the years. From stone to screen, there have been many generations of recording methods.
Bolter brings up the impermanence of text today. For instance, I can post this blog and go back and change it if I so choose. There is something about printed text that seems so much more permanent. Bolter doesn't mention how a tangible item, such as a book, can be destroyed, but something let loose into syber space is there forever. The idea of monumentality vs. changeability is a reoccurring idea in this text as well as in the world of writing. To expand on this idea, I ask blog readers to respond whether or not they think that this changeability has anything to do with the strength behind people's posted thoughts. Do you think that forms of changeable text have become available partly because writers these days are quick to publish, afraid to make their thoughts permanent, feel like the Internet is so cluttered their writing may not be found so easily, etc?
Personally I prefer reading from a book than reading on the Internet. I always have a book on me, and I love being able to open one anywhere. I enjoy the tangibility of a book and using my imagination to create an image for what I'm reading. No need for a makeacartoonofyourself application on the side of my literature.
In my personal opinion I think writers are afraid to make their thought permanent. People go through experiences where there ideas end up changing. I know personally my thoughts always change. There never constant.
ReplyDeleteI believe that some people write just to write, not for any purpose, but solely because they can. But also I know that I like typing rather than writing sometimes because it is easier to change if I make mistakes or want to add ideas.
ReplyDeletei like how you interact with the reader and pose a direct questioned to be answered realistically. i think thoughts are constantly changing, so there isn't a real state of permanence. Once ideas are printed there is no going back, meaning changes have been made that the person doesn't want to change. Some ideas stick with us no matter what and sometimes these ideas are strong on their own or made stronger by the constant changes. It would be just like editing. Why do we edit? Because we are never satisfied. Expectations are set and sometimes we are not satisfied. That's just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Bolter had me interested by using the example of Notre-Dame de Paris. Text as a medium may change often, but we have yet to be able to survive without it. Text is so vital to our lives that we are constantly adapting it to work better for us. I don't think that authors who publish their work on the internet are necessarily rushing their ideas, or afraid for them to become permanent thoughts because once you post it on the internet it is there for everyone to see. Writers publishing their work online take as much time and effort as those who publish on paper. They're just taking advantage of the medium presented to them and realizing that computers and tablets are conquering over printed books. [Which I'm not really okay with.]
ReplyDeleteI don't understand all the hate for digital publishing. A Kindle, if anything, makes books more accessible than a library or bookstore. eBooks are cheaper than printed books yet still appear identical. It's not like writers are dumbing their work down because they know someone will read it on a screen rather than on a page. Just because the format has changed, doesn't mean the talent of the writers has evaporated.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a text is much more permanent and holds a more official value. But, I think technology is holding an important role in society. With people moving at such a fast pace, tons of texts can be easily accessed in such a quick amount of time. People find less time to go out and buy a book or look for one in a library. Instead, texts can be read simultaneously as one searches their Facebook or does work.
ReplyDelete"Do you think that forms of changeable text have become available partly because writers these days are quick to publish, afraid to make their thoughts permanent, feel like the Internet is so cluttered their writing may not be found so easily, etc? "
ReplyDeleteI agree with the point you make here about writers. But Bolter also pointed out how writers still hope to be published because they feel the internet is too "easy" to access. Some writers still want to be taken seriously and have the writing in print.
"I ask blog readers to respond whether or not they think that this changeability has anything to do with the strength behind people's posted thoughts."
ReplyDeleteWell if we all think back not so long ago to the poem we watched being performed and watched in wordle then yes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNIBV87wV4). He said people do not own up to their ideas anymore even in speech. They put it out there to sound like a question so that they are not responsible if people chose to refute the idea. Such a fear could easily be in people's writing as well especially since in writing a book, it will be pretty permanent and online, like it was said, they can just alter it or take it off though most likely, it will be shared in other places they don't know of and will be in the w.w.w. for ever.
I also prefer reading from a book to reading on the internet, and in response to your question, yes i do think that some writers today are afraid to go through the process of publishing a book and that is why they simply put it on the internet. However do you think that some books are put on the internet to have a different mean of communication, as well as to their works to discussion and others opinions, and would it make more sense for what would be otherwise a published book about one side of an argument to be put on the internet rather that be put in a hard copy to allow for feedback?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that when people publish their writing on the internet it is because they are afraid of having their work printed in a book resulting in their writing being permanent. Many people who post things on the internet want to have a book but have not been able to publish any of their writing and this is a way for them to still do what they love and for people to read what they have to say.
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