Writing Space Essay

Jill Saba
April 27, 2011
WSC 002
Paper 3

The Transformation of Writing Space

Technology is constantly making advancements to keep up with the changing times and consumer demand. Currently society is slowly straying away from printed text and moving to digital media. The idea that almost anything can be done or accessed with one click of a button and the fact that hypermedia allows for instant and flexible writing attracts many users. Digital media is opening up new forms of writing, expression, and communication.
The digital media is becoming imperative to society. It seems almost impossible to walk down the street nowadays without somebody being on a cell phone or an iPod or some form of technology. The digital media allows for an easier access to the world around us. Rather than going to the library and getting a book, someone can just buy the book through his or her nook, on an iPod, or even through an online library with just a click of a button. Some authors are trying to disguise their books as digital media. But is this change or this evolution in writing unnecessary or detrimental to society? The technology of writing is constantly changing with time and what Bolter refers to as electronic space is giving a new dimension to printed text. Our minds need entertainment and to constantly be stimulated which is why the computer and hypertext are so attractive.
In Writing Space Bolter states, “the relationships between popular films and novels is further proof that the visual is now regarded as primary” (56). Bolter states that film and movies are the modern ways of telling stories. However this is not the first time that images are being used to convey a story; many ancient stories have been drawn on the walls of caves or painted with any materials that could be found. Although films and movies today are different from the ancient cave drawings, Bolter makes a valid point that many times film is the modern way of telling a story. In the PBS Frontline special “Digital Nation” college students, elementary and middle school students, and even adults in the work place, were followed and interviewed on how much they use current technology. Many students agreed that they rarely pick up and read a book any more and if they have to they would rather just watch the movie. I know from personal experience that when I have to choose between homework, studying or going online and following the endless links, I choose the latter. Although, sometimes I do enjoy reading the novel before seeing the movie because the novel leaves more up to the imagination; in a novel there are no distractions or endless links, just black text on a white rectangular page. In the typical novel there is no dimension to the page, and the pages are in an order that cannot be changed. However this one-dimensional world of a novel gets lost in the new digital world.
In my blog post responding to chapter one “Introduction: Writing in the Late Age of Print” of Writing Space I wrote, “although I do enjoy books, I don't know if it is the book itself that I enjoy or the idea of the book. Like Bolter said ‘the printed book remains the embodiment of text’ (3). People still view books and other printed texts as more intelligent or reliable. I like the feeling of a book in my hand, but for some reason I get just as distracted reading a book as I do on the internet, it's just a different kind of distraction. When I am reading I wander off in my mind, where on the internet, I wander through links and then more links until I am so far away from my original intention for being on the internet in the first place.” Many readers still value a book as more reliable or that the book contains more knowledgeable information. However, books and other forms of printed texts come with their own forms of distractions. Our minds need to constantly be stimulated, which is not necessarily bad. I do enjoy a good book, sitting down in silence, opening the book and letting the text be your guide; every word bringing you deeper and deeper into a story until you are so far in there is almost no way out, you have become a part of the story. I do believe that there are some things that words can do that pictures and images cannot, however that statement can go both ways. There are many things that images can do that words cannot. A typical page in a book can be boring, black text on a blank white page, almost getting dizzying after a while. Bolter later states in chapter four “The Breakout of the Visual”, “the attempt to make words do what pictures do might be taken to mean that pictures are primary and words are secondary” (56). Even though the printed book is still viewed as more reliable and more intelligent (and maybe it is but this might be do to the fact that the internet allows for an easier access for anyone to become an author); as technology is advancing pictures and digital media are becoming crucial and even books are starting to change to look more digital.
Digital media and the Internet have given so many people the ability to become authors or to write almost anything that is on their mind. It is easy for almost anyone to open a blog, a Facebook account or even write a Wikipedia article about anything from a to z. The digital media is changeable, flexible, easy to edit. Unlike a book more than one screen or page can be open at the same time and it is up to the viewer on how they want the screens arranged. “In the modern printed book, the space is simple and clean. Different texts do not compete in adjacent spaces for the reader’s attention, as they still do in a magazine or newspaper” (67). What this quote is talking about is the modern book versus the newspapers, magazines and even digital media. In magazines and newspapers, the images and text divide up the page and the pages can vary in size. Unlike the formalities of a book where text and images rarely co exist, the digital media thrives on using images and text together.
Many have questioned hypertext, its reliability, and its endless links to endless amounts of information. But is too much information a bad thing, can there be too much information? Hypertext allows the user to go from one topic to a completely different topic with one click of a button. At times this can be distracting and easy to stray away from the original purpose for being on the computer. However these links can also open the users mind to other possibilities or ideas or places that the users would never have thought of going. With hypertext and hypermedia images and words can work separately and serve their own purpose, but also in a sense are one in the same. Bolter states “Hypermedia can be regarded as a kind of picture writing…” (58). Hypermedia is made up of text and images that can be linked through hypertext.
The digital media has not only allowed for a new style of writing, but also a new form of communication. Over the years texting has become widely popular in society. Texting opens the door for instant communication from almost anywhere. In chapter four of Writing Space, Bolter writes about MUDs and MOOs. Originally a MOO was a chat room much like AIM or Skype; the chat room allowed instant communication with anyone around the world. As the MOOs evolved, images and avatars began being used, although most images were still two-dimensional. Today, many of these chat rooms allow users to create their own personalized virtual world. Users can walk around, chat with others, build a house, and even obtain a job or a romance. In the virtual world, people can be completely different, almost be anyone they want to be.
Another form of communication that is through digital media is video chatting. Anything from business meetings to a quick hello with a friend or family member, people can talk through video. Many computers are being made with built in webcams. Even cell phones are being made with video chatting. For example the iPhone has a camera for FaceTime, which allows any two people with Apple products to video chat. In the PBS Frontline Special “Digital Nation” that I mentioned above, it showed in one company, workers actually had meetings through a virtual world where they created avatars and would have a meeting through the avatars. Similarly to the change from printed text to digital, forms of communication are evolving too.
The technology of writing is constantly evolving. The digital media is opening up new forms of writing, of expression, and communication.