1. It seems to me that while people are doing more interaction from behind a computer screen, mroe people are also traveling to see and "directly experience" the many things they first discover electronically. Are humans really heading into the isolation suggested by both Forster and Broges?
2. We now appear to be strangling our collective creative energies through copyright instead of promoting "the progress of science and useful arts" as copyright's constitutional basis states. Are we completely twisting the spirit of that practically ancient mandate to the point that we are now working against the constitution and the best interests of humanity as a whole?
1. I understand the basic theory behind Killian's "chunking" format, but I have to question his suggestion that any material that is non-archival should be put into chunks of less than one hundred words. Depending on the content, I would think that it would be easier to compare sections of information on the same page. Needing to go back and forth between pages frequently could be a very time consuming and frustrating process for many users. Is this a personal predjudice on my part or is Killian over-generalizing?
2. Killian briefly touches on the readability of screen text and methods to improve that readability. I would like to know more about factors that tire readers. What colors for font and background are easiest on the eyes? Is dark font on a light background more readable than light font on a dark background, assuming the level of contrast is the same?
1. Should copyright on the web really differ from in other media forms?
2. Do "authors" have the right to impose restrictions on product manufacturers, e.g. DVD manufacturers, that dictate the capabilities of their products and reduce product value?
1. Is hypertext an efficient means of teaching? Landow talks about the many ways of linking (pp. 12-14), which would show how many interconnections can be made within ideas, but would that confuse students more than it helped them?
2. Is hypertext really a new idea or just a new medium? Landow talked about this idea a little with his example of footnotes on page four, but he doesn't resolve the issue in my mind.
I have long-term concerns and some more immediate concerns. For the semester overall, I am concerned about my lack of familiarity with the tools used in creating material on the web. I have also discovered in my attempts to explore specific sites and programs for this class that I must have a more linear style of thinking than most web designers and programmers. This has caused me some annoyance and time in trying to find things in electronic media. My more immediate worries stem primarily from my plan for a term project falling through and needing to find one before next week so I can write the analysis paper.
For those of you needing to do your own assignment, here is a link to my school email address: Amanda Fullan.
