Self-contained volumes, encyclopedias, libraries, punctuation, even page numbers are revealed to be not only facilitators for managing text, but technological components as well as philosophical constructs. Writing's most sophisticated incarnation, the printed book, is the ultimate in standardization, linearity, and univocality. But the book is maxxed out, Bolter claims. While it may not disappear, it will no longer be the cornerstone in the construction of human culture. The webbed paths, integrated media, and linked communications of hypertext will free us from its binds.
Hypertextual connections emphasize the in-betweeness of movement and space.
The writer and the designer create meaning not by creating objects but by creating relationships. Electronic writing is both a visual and verbal description. It is not the writing of a place, but rather a writing with places. . . As with maps or scientific charts, much of the significant information is in the placement of elements relative to one another. By writing spaces, graphic designers and writers become tour guides, staging experience and enabling connections.