Post 11

One of the readings I found to be most interesting this semester was Tim Carmody's "10 Reading Revolutions before E-books", mostly because this history of the book itself and how its features have evolved over time is something I wasn't familiar with before taking this course. I especially found the shift from rolled scrolls to the folded codex to be surprisingly influential in changing the perception of books as well as the types of reading that was possible. Carmody mentions how codices were "cheaper and easier to read and carry than scrolls", and it seems this transition was an early indication of people's inherent desire to access information as quickly as possible. In today's culture, we save electronic documents, bookmark favorite web sites and forward links to important news all as a means of preserving information for easy access. With the folded codex, the ability to flip to a page (and just as importantly to still be able to hold onto another page by placing a finger on it) and find any desired information instead of filtering through the endless scrolling text of old improved on the tool of literacy as a whole. Carmody also mentions the link to Christianity this transition had as the religion embraced the codex instead of the scroll, which helped spread the folded alternative's popularity across the Roman Empire.
Carmody mentions a "reading revolution" that occurred as a result of the invention of the printing press. This is a subject I believe I will address in my final paper since, as I work towards a solid thesis, the idea of a second reading revolution sparked by the transition to electronic documents is one I hope to examine. The move away from intensive "reading and re-reading of very few texts to 'extensive' reading of many, often only once" was brought on by the ability to mass produce literature thanks to the printing press. It opened up a world of variety to the poor, who previously were limited to the Bible and possibly a few other text but could now afford to expand their collection. I find this revolution to be extremely important and it seems possible that our digital culture has brought on a similar change. With the ability to put anything online at a fraction of the cost to print it, literary works have become more visual, since artwork and media can accompany the texts that are displayed on the web. The transition from purely text based reading to the addition of visual stimulants has changed the way we interpret information and it is something I wish to at least address in my final paper.

Post #10

For my final paper, I want to argue that the Information Age, though it is seemingly thriving in our digital culture, is coming to an end. With the invention of the internet, information became increasingly easy to access from an assortment of devices. The ways in which it has changed our society will not become irrelevant as we transition to a new age. Instead, these advancements are the building blocks upon which people will utilize in the goal of furthering human knowledge. Following the profound changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution, machine-operated labor became commonplace in business and helped usher in the Atomic Age. Today, machines are assisted by the technology we've developed in this era. Tomorrow, the internet will be a catalyst for what's next, which I believe will be a variation of some type of "connected" age, relating to how people communicate with one another.

An article titled "From The Information Age To The Connected Age" by Anne Zelenka sparked my interest in this topic. Zelenka observes differences in the types of priorities (forms of currency, styles of work, etc.) between the two eras which got me thinking about how the transition will occur, or how it currently is occurring. I believe that, with the evolution of the internet to web 3.0, which is said to be a more high-quality presentation of web 2.0 materials, connectivity will continue to grow and consequently this transformation will change the way in which we view our culture.

My paper will argue the end of the Information Age and the beginning of the Connected Age, as well as examining the changes observed during this growth period in history. We are not the same types of people we were during the Industrial Age. Our values, social structures, politics and more have all been affected by the ease with which we can obtain information. In the near future, possible even now, we will begin to see changes from our more recent era to ones that reflect how we communicate with one another and what value these relationships have in our society.

Post #9- Interactive Fiction

Using the readings, describe "interactive fiction." How does the ability of the user to play a role in understanding the literature enhance or evolve the way we interpret literary artifacts? What disctinctions are there between playing video games and engaging in interactive fiction?

Interactive fiction is a type of literature that depends on the user's input to create meaning. Whereas a standard book will have writing from page one till the final page, interactive fiction is categorized beneath electronic literature and utilizes technology to encourage the viewer to take action in order to continue the narrative. The distinction here is that this new form of literary expression is designed to be dependent on the viewer's interpretation of the medium. For example, visual cues throughout a story on the web may require action to continue, such as clicking on an object or typing in a response. These coded actions then progress the story to the next step, where continued interaction ultimately rewards the viewer with a resolution of some sort.
Much like those children's books which had multiple endings and making descisions on what to do at the end of a chapter would lead to a different outcome, interactive fiction lets the reader become a player in the story. Though the literature most likely already has defined endings, it is the illusion that any given choice will affect a change in the story itself that makes the interactivity so enticing. I can't begin to count the number of times I've read a book or seen a movie and thought "That character should've done something else, I never would've made that decision." Here, the narrativer offers an opportunity to at least feel some sort of control in the action and direct it to a pre-determined end. Similar to a maze, the interactivity is undoubtedly limited to the constraints of the where the story will resolve itself, however it is the twists and turns along the way that bring the reader into the narrative and make them feel like they have a choice.
The difference between a video game and interactive fiction is that video games let the viewer interpret in order to configure actions, while with this type of fiction the viewer configures in order to interpret meaning. This is to say that, in any given video game, narrative cues are provided for the purpose of leading the user to configure some sort of action and progress in the goal of finishing the game. However, interactive fiction provides the opportunity to configure, by means of making choices, investigating objects, talking to someone, etc. which ultimately leads to the end goal of resolving the narrative. Though both mediums take aspects of one another to engage the user, its the emphasis on narrative that makes interactivity more of a literary artifact than video games.