Greetings, havong read my post again, and everyones responses, I think I need to clarify myself, and apologize for any misleading.
First, the impact of the hypertext on reading skills is a very profound one. Linear texts, like most of us know, propose a singular objective, a path to take when reading, and when structural non-linear content is introduced it raises the minimun requirements to understand a certain content.
That being said, I agree that the average reading and writing skills have diminished strongly since the advent of digital content. With the tools that a person has to plagiarize text and the amount of information available on the internet, a normal person needs only a few search criteria, a powerful search engine, and the ability to copy and paste.
Although the quantity of written text has increased because of the same tools, very little can be said for the quality. As an example, most people wouldn't advertise their comments on youtube as intellectual production, let alone intellectual property.
I'm not implying that the internet is bad, the myriad of posibilities and manifestations on the net would prove the worth of the internet in amount alone. There has been no time when we could be so accurately informed, no way of communicating so many people from so many different places, and the "few" places that give you good information are gold mines that give people endless possibilities beyond books and linear text.
Thank you for your time, and hope to hear from you soon.
Ruobhe Leafdancer |
