• to another part of the same file
• to another location on a stand-alone hard drive
• (assuming a network connection) to another location on the same LAN, WAN, or intranet
• (assuming an Internet connection) to almost any connected computer in the world.

Hypertext (we prefer the generic term, unless a multimedia aspect needs to be emphasized) has been around for more than 20 years -- but it wasn't until 1990-91 that it became widely used. That was when the Internet adopted it to navigate through long emails or ftp documents (HTML), and Microsoft made it the basis of their online help (WinHelp).

Note:

Earlier implementations, such as Apple's HyperCard, didn't have a broad enough user base to qualify as "widely used".

We'll talk more about how this development influenced the current situation in Essay #3.

Before we go any further, let's keep the two themes in mind. We have a lot more to say, but nothing's going to conflict with these:

1. The Information Age is a paradigm shift, and hypertext is vital to it. It's as big as printing.
2. Printing didn't significantly reduce oral communication, and hypertext won't seriously threaten printing. The information pie is getting bigger, so the individual slices will be OK.

Subjects of later essays will be determined by then-current events. (If the "Hypertext Wars" are still raging, we'll analyze the situation. Then we'll discuss the types of hypertext and their corresponding tools. Eventually, we'll probably speculate on hypertext's mid-term future -- and end up being sorry we tried.)

Linear & Recorded Communication

Linear communication goes in one sequence, determined by the author. (Interrupting the speaker, moving the phonograph arm to skip a song, and going to the refrigerator during a TV commercial are exceptions, but not significant ones. Even channel surfing is a minor exception, because each channel is a linear presentation; what surfing provides is diversity, not non-linearity.) Linearity makes causality clear and verifiable, but it's a monologue with no audience input.

If something is recorded, it can be preserved and distributed. And a record makes verification much easier, because you can refer to exactly what the author claimed previously. Demagogues and bait-and-switchers hate a record; it's a fire you can hold their feet to. That's one reason for the proliferation of telemarketing: you can't recreate in a complaint exactly what the salesperson promised (or you think they promised) on the phone.

Key Point:

The wide distribution of linear, recorded communication was an indispensable factor in the spread of education, the invention of such technological comforts as plumbing and lights, and the maintenance of large-scale democracies -- so we owe it a lot.

Hypertext: Some Things Old, Some Things New

• The jump can go to almost any connected computer and can bring back almost anything.
• It's immediate, like oral and electronic communication.
• It's recorded, so it can be both verified and distributed.
• It's normally not linear -- but it can be.
• Users have a lot of control, because they can accept or ignore any of the branches afforded by the "GO" commands.
• But since the author chooses which links to insert, a lot of control is where it's always been.
• Because of the links, it's easily customizable, and it's rarely the same document twice.