III. degree zero of visuality - The Diigo Meta page

• 08 Jul 08
  

  Bill Wolff
  • the left-pointing arrow and 'return' suggest a (story)line,  which reinforces the reader's expectation of linear temporality,  establishing the concept of a stable story. The existence of links,  expressed with the open book icon, tells the reader that there  are different alternative storylines. But because of the linear  model evoked, it is most likelly that the reader will treat these  storylines as intersecting lines or as flashbacks/prolepses in  relation to the default line, instead of the truly 'net-like'  or 'rhizomatic' structure cherished by most hypertext theoreticians

  • This feeling  is also strenghtened by the use of an open book as the icon for  the links: after all, the reading of Afternoon does not differ so much from leafing through a printed book.

     

    In fact, this relationship to a print book is reinforced by the  print button: using it produces a hard copy of the text, even  if it is from within the text window only. That is, the title  bar (each text window has a title bar), the buttons, or possible  background documents, are not printed. Thus it defines in its  own very concrete way what is considered as 'text proper.' This  means for example that the lexia-titles function more as technical  properties of links than they do as chapter titles in printed  fiction; however, it is difficult to define who is responsible  for this--the author, the programmer, the program used.

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