It now follows that paths in a maze map to sequences of actions in Word 97. The duality between sign systems, which provide languages for taking about signs of a certain kind, and their models shows up in an interesting way in this example. A model for the Word 97 sign system would be the trace of some particular task, such as writing a short business letter that has some bold face characters in it. The goal is then to print the letter, and this goal lies at the end of a long path through a maze of menu choices and keyboard strokes. It is also interesting and important to notice that there is more going on here than these simple mathematical transformations.
Mazes have a connotation as well as a literal mathematical description.
For this reason, the above quotation is also a rhetorical gesture , having the effect, which is not explicitly stated, of imparting a negative connotation to Word 97. It should not be thought that such connotations lie outside of the semiotic framework that we have been developing. For the conceptual space of mazes is much richer than the simple graph sign system discussed above, and in particular, it includes the Minotaur, and anything else that is generally known about mazes in our culture. The whole thing has been a very painful experience for me. I thought I would die.