When we put a link to somewhere else, we feel that the site being linked to can do all the explaining of the issue. To some degree, yes. But this is a new realm, and people have different expectations when they have a mouse in their hand rather than a book. Hypertext is a way of controlling the chaos of information out there, referencing it and classifying it. Bu t the classification has only just begun.
Hypermedia is new, and standards are still less than solid.
There are dozens of browser-specific tags and as many pages devoted to being aginst one sort of feature or another. This may be inherent in the nature of the medium, but as more commercialism takes it up, things will begin to settle some. It should be interesting to see how the style manual evolv es considering the rate of change on the internet. The web site even allows users to actively participate in the debate of these grammatical issues for the next edition of the book. I actually caught myself writing one by hand, sideway s and all, once in a letter, I had become so used to them.